Dr. STONE S3 10 – [Science Wars]

Welcome all, to another week of Dr. STONE! This week our girls go on an infiltration mission while our boys play with magnets. I promise that isn’t a joke, it’s actually what happens. Don’t believe me? Then lets dive into the episode!

Overall this was a pretty standard week for Dr. STONE. Some comedy with Kohaku, a serious moment with Ginro and a fair amount of science with Senku. It seems that Dr. STONE has found a pattern it really likes, and it’s one I think works well. What really makes it work though I think is how Dr. STONE is constantly switching up its groups. Splitting them off and merging them back together, giving each member moments to play off of others in new combinations. Stuff like Gen and Kohaku’s back and forth, or Kohaku and Amaryllis manipulating their way through the Palace. These are different from say… Senku’s relationship with Gen, or Senku and Kohaku. Different pairs lead to different jokes and banter. Overall, I like it.

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Dr. STONE S3 9 – [Beautiful Science]

Welcome all to another week of Dr. STONE! Apologies for the delay on this one, I had to get the seasonal preview out as well. Anyways without further ado, lets dive into the episode!

Overall I thought this was a great episode. A good mix of both Dr. STONE’s unique brand of comedy and its more serious narrative. The best example of this of course being Ginro. At the best of times he’s this stupid wreck of a human, a complete coward who look for any opportunity to get out of work and escape responsibility. It makes for some amusing jokes at times. But seeing him struggle with that as he’s confronted by Kinro’s statue, his desperate attempt to escape carrying him on his back before resolving not to run not because it’s the right thing but because he cares specifically for his friend. Mmm, it’s just good shit. Dr. STONE really sold his “Coward that does what’s necessary” energy. Think of him like Zenitsu from Kimetsu no Yaiba, but much more narratively compelling and much less annoying.

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Wolf’s Rain Anime Review – 89/100 – Throwback Thursday

The early 2000’s were a rough time for anime. It produced some incredible works, from Welcome to the NHK to Tokyo Godfathers, my favorite animated movie ever. However it was also smack-dab in the middle of the industries transition from cel animation to digital. Entire pipelines changed, the animation process became completely different, leading to a glut of poorly produced, visually abysmal series. It was in this time that Studio Bones was born. One of the more prolific studios still working today, Bones had to get it’s start somewhere. And it’s one of their earliest works that I am here to talk to you about today. I present to you, originally written by Keiko Nobumoto, directed by Tensai Okamura, with music written and performed by Youko Kanno, the early 2000’s Sci-Fi adventure: Wolf’s Rain. Let’s dive into it!

Oh and really quick before we get to deep, just ignore the Omegaverse tags if those are still there. Those are stupid and have nothing to do with the series. There is no Alpha/Beta/Omega crap. Just enjoy the cool Wolves dangit. Onwards we go!

Be warned, this review contains minor unmarked spoilers for Wolf’s Rain. It also contains major spoilers in some sections however these will be heavily marked to avoid accidents. Additionally this review also covers the 4 episode OVA containing the true ending to the series.. Continue reading “Wolf’s Rain Anime Review – 89/100 – Throwback Thursday”

Dr. STONE S3 8 – [The Trump Card Aboard the Science Vessel]

Welcome all, to another week of Dr. STONE! This week we meet our major antagonists, figure out their relationship with the island, and most of all see the petrification device! So without further ado, lets dive in.

So lets start with the big reveal this week: The petrification device. Dr. STONE has long hinted at this, and we’ve long had theories about it. What could cause all of this? How does it work? And while we haven’t gotten those answers just yet, we have finally seen it. And with that, we’ve also started to learn how it works. About its limited ranged and indiscriminate nature, like a grenade. How, despite its fantastical effects, it isn’t fantasy. This isn’t a spell. As Senku put it, it’s not magic because it has rules. And if it has rules, then it’s a science. And if it’s science? Then Senku can’t lose, because science is his everything. I really like this, I think it takes a fantastical McGuffin that’s always existed and demystifies it a bit. It really feels like Dr. STONE is finally progressing that overarching plot. I like that.

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Dr. STONE S3 7 – [Ray of Despair, Ray of Hope]

Welcome all, to another episode of Dr. STONE! This week we reach the island, meet the locals, and get absolutely rolled by an unknown force. What? Oh, the last one? Don’t worry we will get to that. Now lets dive right into it!

Starting off, this week we finally reach the island! Dr. STONE walks us through a whole introduction for it, from the basic geography to local tensions. Of course part of this is introducing us to some locals and their politics. Setting up the main conflict of the arc. However more then that, what Dr. STONE does is completely shatter our expectations of what’s going on here. It makes it clear that, whatever you thought, this place isn’t just going to be a simple walk in the park with some stone-age yokels. And personally? After the slower first half of the season? I find this to be a welcome change of pace. Mostly because of the mystery of petrification.

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Wolf’s Rain – 29/30 [High Tide, High Time/Wolf’s Rain] – Throwback Thursday

Welcome all, to the grand finale of Wolf’s Rain! This is a contentious ending from what I’ve heard, and I can see why. We have a lot to talk about this week so lets just dive right in!

Before we get to deep into it though I want to talk about whether or not this ending works for me. And overall? I think it was… effective. There are bits and pieces I’m not 100% sure I either understand or entirely like, but the more I think about the finale the more I feel like it works. Everyone got some kind of closure to their arc, no one was ignored, it answered a lot of questions regarding the setting and why all of this was happening. I’m satisfied. The only places I’m not totally sure on is the core idea of “repeats”. I’m typically not a big fan of these kinds of endings, for reasons I will talk about later. But Wolf’s Rain managed to frame it in a way that I think works well. Is that vague? Yes. Follow me after the break if you want spoilers.

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Dr. STONE S3 6 – [Treasure Box]

Welcome all, to another week of Dr. STONE. This is a a pretty straightforward week, so let’s make it quick and jump right in, shall we?

The big topic of this episode is Soyuz. Not the ship, the person. Don’t remember them? Well don’t worry, they are new, just introduced this week. Now is that so bad? No, it’s perfectly fine for Dr. STONE to introduce new characters, it did it with Ryusui and I’ve come to like him. The only weird thing about it with Soyuz is how he is introduced as having always been here, living in the village with everyone after being found on the beach while young. It’s a bit strange for none of our main cast to have asked why he doesn’t have a name before now, you know? That aside, he got a fair bit of focus for his introductory episode and I think he works. Only time will tell if he becomes likable or not.

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Wolf’s Rain – 27/28 [Where the Soul Goes/Gunshot of Remorse] – Throwback Thursday

Welcome all, to the penultimate week of Wolf’s Rain! This week we get into the OVA, the true ending of the series. Does it live up to the hype? Is it good? Or should it have maybe stayed incomplete? Well I won’t keep you waiting, I’ll just come out and say it’s pretty damn good. So without further ado lets dive into the episodes!

First up though, some praise for the production. Wolf’s Rain was generally pretty solid on this front. But after the opening few episodes it rarely “wow’ed” me. Well this OVA is making up for that in spades, because it was stunning. From beautiful effects work such as explosions and snow to incredibly detailed facial expressions such as Hubb and Quent, or the fur and muscles of the wolves as they ran. This is easily the best Wolf’s Rain has ever looked, and it’s sending quite the statement as far as finales go. Hopefully it can keep this up for the last 2 episodes. And of course the music has also been great, but I don’t want to look up specific tracks at the moment, so I’m just going to leave that with “Music sound good :D”. You’ll get more in the final review, I promise. For now, episodes!

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Dr. STONE S3 4/5 – [Eye of Science/Science Ship Perseus]

Welcome all, to an incredibly late double feature of Dr. STONE! I have no excuses, I just sort of forgot to watch last weeks. I’m sorry. But you don’t pay me so you aren’t my boss, so take that! Jokes aside, I do apologize for the delay on this. As the only writer left on this site, I have to keep the legacy going. So let’s get back on schedule!

Now before we get to deep into the episodes I want to start with my major apprehension about the season. What these two episodes opened my eyes to is just how much content there is in this arc and just how much Dr. STONE will have to cover this season. Not only do we have to do all this prep-work to get to the island, we then have the entire island story itself. With a short 11 episode season, so only 6 episodes left, I just don’t see how Dr. STONE can cover all of that. Which means that, more then likely, we’re going to get a cliff-hanger ending right as the main conflict starts. Will that end up fine in the long run after all the seasons are out and you can jump straight to the next one? Probably, sure. But in the now? I’m concerned.

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Wolf’s Rain – 25/26 [False Memories/Moonlight Crucible] – Throwback Thursday

Welcome all, to the grand finale of the original season of Wolf’s Rain! Don’t worry, this isn’t the end. We have 2 more weeks of Throwback Thursday as we cover the OVA as well. As I understand it that’s the intended ending. For now though we have a lot to talk about, so lets dive into the unofficial finale.

Starting off, lets talk setting. In broad strokes? It works. Wolf’s Rain has a great world with great characters. The overall aesthetic and feeling of the world fits well into this Vampire vs Werewolves (Vanhelsiiiiiiing) sort of classical conflict. My only gripe with it is that I feel like Wolf’s Rain is a tad to vague at times. I don’t need, nor even want, Wolf’s Rain to outright call Nobles vampires or anything. It doesn’t need to force itself to fit into preexisting ideas and words. But I would like it if things like the magic circles, the cults, or the prophecy, were better connected with the wider technological sci-fi setting. At times it feels like 2 separate systems, magic and technology, that don’t interact very well. Like how does the giant robot from episode 4 fit with the magic circle from episode 26. Personally? I don’t think it does.

To be clear, this isn’t a big deal. I have really enjoyed Wolf’s Rain, I have a lot of positive things to say about this weeks episodes and the series as a whole. The only reason I bring it up now is because as the conflict comes to a head, there are bits and pieces that feel… under utilized or poorly explained. And they only stand out because the actual experience of living in this world was communicated so well up until this point. I’ve bought into the day to day life these people have, and how the whole world is dying. Maybe some of this confusion is due to Wolf’s Rain having to rush this ending a bit, not yet knowing they were getting an OVA where it will all be more properly explored. I don’t know yet! If so I’ll find out next week.

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