Category: Weekly Summary

Wooper: There seems to be a consensus online that Winter 2021 is one of the strongest seasons in recent years, but not everyone agrees on which shows are doing the heavy lifting. For some it’s the powerhouse sequels; for others it’s the anime originals; for others still it’s the new crop of isekai series. No matter where your preferences lie, it’s impossible to cover everything – which is where this column comes in. This week we’re touching base with ten shows that didn’t quite make the cut for full coverage, but are still doing their part in making this a jam-packed start to the year. Hope you’re enjoying the season so far – as you’ll see below, we certainly are!

Back Arrow – 2/3

Wooper: Remember when mecha anime ruled the airwaves through a combination of spirited characters and semi-coherent plotting? Back Arrow remembers. “Semi-coherent” is a charitable descriptor, really – the number of meetings, partings, alliances and betrayals in these episodes was enough to make my head spin. Episode 3 was the guiltier party on that front, since it detailed a conflict over a futuristic warship which was largely obscured from view until the end. A clearer sense of just how imposing this dreadnought was, and why so many people would be willing to fight over it, would have been greatly appreciated. Even if the visual direction had been improved, though, a transparently corrupt cowboy leading an entire village by the nose would still make for eyebrow-raising viewing. The previous episode was simpler and more goal-oriented, which worked to the series’ benefit, but it was still packed full of nonsense. My tolerance for that sort of thing is generally pretty low, but the main character’s combination of big dreams and straight talk will keep his show tethered to my watch list for at least 2-3 more weeks.

Heaven’s Design Team – 2/3

Lenlo: This show is too clever for its own good. Somehow, some way, Design Team continues to make edutainment entertaining. Each half of an episode is cleverly pieced together so that every monster, every make believe creature, every feature of life seamlessly leads into whatever the end animal is meant to be. Somehow going from dragons to chickens to starfish, all while feeding into each other. It’s incredible really. Design Team is not and never will be an incredible, Best of the Season type show. But what it is, is interesting and entertaining discussion about nature and just how fucking scary and weird it can be. I love it far more than I should. Also it looks pretty charming.

Amun: I completely agree. This is one of the better “feel-good” shows of the season – maybe that should be an awarded category?

Continue reading “Winter 2021 Summary – Weeks 2-3” →

Wooper: There are still a few final episodes left to air this season, but this is our final recap post of 2020. With the new season preview finished, our attention will soon turn to winter first impressions and the Anime of the Year post due in mid-January. Before that, however, Amun has a bone to pick with a handful of second stringers he’s been watching, and Lenlo and I give our final verdicts on the usual summary post suspects. (There’s no Blurb on Titan this time around – make your voice heard if you want Armitage to keep writing about it, even in this column’s absence.) Thanks for reading, and happy holidays!

Fire Force – Since I stopped blogging about it

Amun: I stopped my weekly review of Fire Force around episode 11, but I’m back with an update on how the rest of the season went. In two words: the same. There were instances of absolutely ridiculous animation quality (see the last couple of episodes)….and a whole lot of weird service and head scratching plot directions. At no point in the season did I feel that Fire Force found its groove or even understood the kind of show it wanted to be – comedy? action? horror? ecchi? Strange to say about an anime, but Fire Force never took itself quite seriously enough, which is a shame. The random edginess was unenjoyable – not sure about Uncle-Shinigami-who-was-really-into-little-boys. The Maki storyline was fine I guess, and Tamaki sort of got a redemption episode? Just overall, I can’t help but be disappointed in the unfulfilled potential – looks like instead of the meh ending (like Soul Eater – by the way, what was up with that moon?), we got it here in the middle. Rumour has it the next season is the last, so hopefully it finishes strong – but I would be surprised.

Taiso Samurai – 11

Wooper: Barring a couple of Big Bird’s loony appearances, this finale was wholly unenjoyable and unsatisfying. The Jotaro/Leo connection was unimportant in the end, as Leo’s last-minute spectatorship of his friend’s routine created a brief feel good moment and nothing else. Jotaro’s successful quadruple flip and ensuing victory over Tetsuo were a surprise to no one, I’m sure, and the last-ditch effort to make Tetsuo a human being was too little, too late. The whole sequence with Rei running through the airport to stop Leo from leaving made me wonder why their previous conversation in episode 10 was necessary. If he was going to be convinced by an extended reference to his favorite ninja movie, couldn’t the show have pulled off the same thing without the prelude from the previous week? I like the concept of Rei quoting her mom’s signature film both to motivate her friend and reaffirm her interest in acting, but the moment came across as pretty limp given Leo’s recent irrelevance. We only got to see two seconds of his ballet performance before cutting to a truncated credits roll, for crying out loud. But hey, at least it’s over – the greatest gift I’ll receive this holiday season is never having to write about Taiso Samurai again.

Continue reading “Fall 2020 Summary – Week 12” →

Wooper: Just two more weeks until 2020 can finally be put to rest. Here at Star Crossed, the Winter Preview is a key step in bidding farewell to each calendar year, so we’re hard at work on that project as you read this. But that busyness couldn’t stop us from offering our thoughts on these penultimate seasonal episodes – we had to lay the foundation for our final verdicts, after all, which ought to arrive next week-ish. See you then!

Golden Kamuy S3 – 11

Lenlo: Jesus, Golden Kamuy, that was easily the tensest episode of the season and possibly of the year. I really don’t know how to describe this without spoilers, so let’s just say everything came to a head this week. Sugimoto and Asirpa finally meet again, which means so does Ogata and Sugimoto, and Tanigaki and Kiroranke, and basically every character combination you can think of. Combine that with a treasure hunt that only one person knows the answer to and a whole bunch of guns and you have something going on. All in all, I loved this episode and I don’t know how to talk about it without spoiling everyone.

Maou-jou de Oyasumi – 11

Wooper: After cameos in episodes 8 and 9, Cubey finally revealed herself as a succubus who admires Princess Syalis for her popularity, not her evil counterpart from a parallel universe. I suppose it’s better that the show kept it simple, since it allowed the quest formula to be maintained after a few leaps in logic. Syalis’ ruthless training of her new body double ironically ended in her own death, which wasn’t tough to predict, but it’s the way she died that really sold the segment: drifting off to sleep while plummeting toward a fiery lake, satisfied with a job well done. Of course, the castle’s cleric revived her in time for the next chapter, where the other characters got a peek into her dreams. This was the spot where her relationship to the Hero was revealed to all parties involved, giving him a bit more to do than usual. As a matter of fact, the Demon Lord confronted the Hero face to face in this episode, though it was just a small gag about the man’s willingness to trust an obvious enemy. I haven’t mentioned the Hero in these miniature blurbs much, which is due to a lack of column space and his distance from the main characters, but also because I don’t find him especially funny. I’ll be interested to see whether his character “works” in next week’s finale.

Continue reading “Fall 2020 Summary – Week 11” →

Wooper: In case you’ve been living under a boulder, you ought to know that Attack on Titan returned to the airwaves three days ago, and Armitage has thoughts about the new episode. So do Lenlo and Amun, I assume, but you’ll find them talking about different series after the jump, plus a few contributions from yours truly. It’s our biggest recap post in quite some time – hopefully we can keep this momentum going as the blog’s busiest season looms ever larger!

Attack on Titan S4 – 01

Armitage: I can safely say that I have not waited for an anime with this much anticipation. Ever. I wasn’t nervous this much-awaited return would be underwhelming, I was downright afraid. In entertainment media, Attack on Titan is one of the few shows that’s bigger than the medium they inhabit. One that most people who are even remotely interested in ‘Japanese cartoons’ have at least heard about. So, you can imagine how skeptical its fans were with the studio change announcements and a new director and staff at the helm. MAPPA had pulled the shortest of sticks by volunteering to follow the massively successful Studio Wit in producing the final season of Attack on Titan. So how did they do in their first at bat? Well, to my and almost every other viewer’s pleasant surprise, they knocked it well and truly out of the park.

This was easily the best season premiere this series has given us since its very first episode more than 7 years ago. Instead of wasting precious minutes with exposition and recaps, we are thrown headfirst into the action, a whole new cast of characters is introduced within seconds and the show expects us to be well-caught up on previous events to follow character motivations. While none of our original main cast shows up we do get to see Reiner and Zeke kicking some ass. And what glorious ass-kicking at that. We had actual good CG, fluid character movement carrying through the weight of every Titan’s attacks and set-pieces as bombastic as they have ever been, all accompanied by a thunderous background score. The barrage from the sky even reminded me of the Chimera Ant arc from Hunter x Hunter 2011. My only fear at this point is that in the process of hitting an opening Home Run, MAPPA may have broken their bat altogether. But as an anime-only who has somehow managed to avoid all spoilers about what’s to come, I am honestly more excited and way more optimistic than I ever was.

Continue reading “Fall 2020 Summary – Week 10” →

Wooper: Dragon Quest? More like Dropped Quick. We’ve got an oddball series in its place for this recap post, plus some thoughts on a handful of seasonal anime. Has Haikyuu season 4.5 finally turned the corner onto Sakuga Street? Will China’s latest sleeper series maintain its momentum? Should I have put a third question after the first two? You’ll have to read on to find out!

Gal and Dino 8-9

Wooper: If you’re one of the 12 people who were watching Gal and Dino before COVID kicked it half a year into the future, here’s your alert that the show is back – and better than ever, honestly. It’s found a sweet spot between Pop Team Epic’s absurdism, Galko-chan’s friendliness, and Tonkatsu DJ Agetaro’s chill vibes. Episode 8 put emphasis on the show’s warmth, as the gang celebrated Dino’s birthday with trick candles and gifts of cup ramen (to his unceasing delight), before transitioning into a bonkers live action scene that parodied Detective Conan, Mission Impossible, and Haruhi. Episode 9 moved in the opposite direction, going from PTE levels of mixed media (including simulated chalk animation and a marker-illustrated dream sequence) to a lovely confirmation of Dino’s happiness at Kaede’s apartment. Most people didn’t care about this show when it dropped back in April and won’t care about it now, but it’s got more heart than they’ll ever know. I love little things like Kaede carefully stepping over Dino’s tail (after injuring him several weeks ago), or Nanami working up the courage to ask a new friend over for dinner. Gal and Dino is both strange and sweet – a winning combination in a year that’s otherwise been uniformly bitter.

Haikyu To the Top Part 2 – 09

Lenlo: Look, there’s only one word I can use to describe this episode, and you all already know what it is: HYYYYYYYYYYYYYYPE. I’ve been really critical of Haikyu this season up until now, rightfully so I say. The tension has been lacking and the production has been inconsistent to say the least. So you cannot imagine how relieved and thankful I am that they managed to nail this episode. Inarizaki’s motto has always stayed with me more than the other schools. Just like Atsumu, I didn’t really get it at first, but it was this scene in the manga that always made it work. “We don’t need the memories”, forever pushing forward, the depiction of the team, the discussion about hunger and how it feels to watch someone enjoy a good meal. It’s one of the best in the series for me. And the receive, oh god the receive. This is what the ballboy arc was building towards, this singular moment, and it was beautiful. The voice over, the momentum of the ball and Hinata’s flip, I love it. It’s competing for my favorite episode of the season off of those two scenes alone. So yeah, it was a bloody good episode of Haikyu. But you already knew that.

Armitage: Yup. Easily S4’s best episode yet. The shot of Hinata’s trembling hands after completing that receive is up there with the very best climactic moments Haikyuu has given us. Please let the rest of the season be this well-animated, anime gods.

Continue reading “Fall 2020 Summary – Week 9” →

Wooper: After making way for our quarterly State of the Season post last week, the recap post has returned with a value-sized installment. I might fall down on the job where my episodic reviews are concerned, but the weekly summary arrives on time, come hell or high water. There’s a new show under Lenlo’s microscope before the jump, plus double episode impressions for the usual suspects afterwards. Have at ’em!

Heaven’s Official Blessing – 4/5

Lenlo: A new addition to the lineup, by popular request! This was a slow but important two weeks for HOB. Where the first arc sought to establish the world and the setting, this one dedicates itself entirely to character relationships. Specifically between our lead and Xie Lian and our Antagonist (?)/Love Interest (?) Hua Cheng. And across both of these episodes I can say… it did a pretty good job of it. I’m not a big fan of BL, mostly because romance isn’t my genre. But the interplay between Lian and Cheng was rather interesting. Lian, a heavenly official trying to suss out who Cheng really is, and Cheng who could be simply playing with Lian or legitimately interested. This early into the series it’s too early to truly tell one way or the other. But for what I expected to be two boring episodes, HOB did a great job playing them off each other and establishing this relationship and I am looking forward to more.

Oh and one last thing of note that I almost forgot, there was some great visual alliteration in these two episodes. I especially liked the story of how Hua cheng earned his name with the white flower, both speaking to his own history as well as to when we first met him a few episodes ago. How he helped Lian, leading him through the forest under his umbrella. It was well done!

Kamisama Ni Natta Hi 06/07

Armitage: To paraphrase one of Shakespeare’s most well-known sonnets, “Thou art a Lolicon, yes?” In all seriousness though, this show is best when it’s not being serious at all. While we finally got back to the shady boy-hacker from Episode 3 and were presented with a head-scratching reveal at the end to tide us over till next week, I don’t know exactly how I feel about it. I mean, I guess this isn’t a fantasy show anymore. Well, it was always just winking at that possibility but now, it’s pretty much embraced the sci-fi genre altogether. Which I mean… yeah, sure. Feels a little shoehorned but the red herrings were there too. There’s also a love triangle being set up at the heart of our narrative though unlike other love triangles (read: Harems) in anime, I actually don’t mind multiple girls falling head over heels for our protagonist, as Sota is a very likeable one. Though, honestly if you were to ask me to choose between this show trying its hand at new ways to incorporate drama into its story or the viewers being treated to 12 episodes of Sota and co. shooting a movie, I’d choose the latter all day, every day.

Continue reading “Fall 2020 Summary – Weeks 7-8” →

Wooper: Last week I said that we might be skipping our weekly recap for a seasonal check-in, but then Amun came through with some impressions to give us three whole writers in one post, and I couldn’t pass that up. We’re approaching levels of blog contribution that shouldn’t be possible! Next week will be our Fall 2020 State of the Season shindig, but for now, we’re here to gab about the newest wave of weekly anime. Enjoy!

Tonikaku Kawaii – 06

Amun: Not in my normal strike zone of shows, but I find myself watching Tonikaku Kawaii first on the weekend anime binge. With a simple premise and a tiny cast, Tonikaku Kawaii should fall under the category of show that gives you cavities and I avoid like the plague. Tonikaku Kawaii banks on, and makes light of, some common early onset romantic issues – but it’s done in such a light hearted way that you can’t help but cheer on our silly, spacy couple as they bumble through the beginnings of married life. I’m sure you could find some criticisms of the perverted bath owner or the meddling little sister, but for now, it’s cute and that’s all you really need to know.

Golden Kamuy S3 – 06

Lenlo: I never know what to expect with Golden Kamuy. Some weeks it’s light hearted gallows humor with a sprinkle of drama, other weeks like this one that recipe is flipped on its head. Sadly it’s in weeks like this that I really start to see the cracks in the series. Drama is not Golden Kamuy’s strong suit, to say the least. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed it, the sniper battle was fun. I really liked the double misdirect in regards to Ogata’s position, and how his strategy actually laid him flat for the rest of the episode. Pair that with Shiraishi’s introspection and you have some decent drama. But I didn’t care much for Ogata’s flashback, all things considered. It didn’t tell us anything we didn’t already know about him as a character, and while it introduced a bit of guilt, it’s not something I really see it acting on. All in all it felt like it existed to pad runtime. Not in the worst way, it fit the show and reminded us just how much of a cold bastard he is. But it definitely wasn’t the most interesting thing in the episode.

Continue reading “Fall 2020 Summary – Week 6” →

Wooper: We’re down to just two writers for this week’s recap, which means we’re down a few shows, as well. Now that we’ve entered the second of this season’s three months, it’s only natural that anime will start to fall through the cracks. The State of the Season post is coming up, though (it may even replace next week’s summary), so it won’t be long until you hear from the whole crew on their midseason picks. Until then, Lenlo and I have got you covered.

Haikyu: To the Top Part 2! – 05

Lenlo: I said last week that as much as I love Nekoma, I want to get back to the Inzarizaki match. I still stand by that, I love Atsumu, but boy is it hard to not get hype about our boy Kenma. The relationship between him, Kuroo and Nekoma as a whole is always a treat. How they tease and respect each other, how Kenma fails or refuses to see his own growth (“guts”) etc. My only real complaint with the episode is that, outside a few of the big scenes, it once again looked kinda… eh? Production has definitely not been a strong suit for Haikyu this season. My only hope is that they are saving something big for the finale, because the narrative core is all there, it’s great. Furudate is a great writer. I just think the show deserves better than this sometimes.

Dragon Quest: Dai no Daibouken – 05

Wooper: Boy, did this episode look good. The bulk of it was given to a continuous fight against Hadlar, first waged by Avan and then by Dai. It was chock-full of shounen staples, from the sensei who sacrifices his life to the villain undone by overconfidence, but watching such a slick reboot of a classic title makes it hard to find fault with its adherence to genre conventions. I’ll confess to being disappointed that Avan’s life-offering final attack wasn’t enough to end the battle – giving Dai the crushing blow smacks of protagonist worship – but Hadlar is a major antagonist, so killing him off this early wouldn’t fit the template that this series was instrumental in creating. Great animation and a sense of high stakes going forward are two reasons to love this episode, as well as some justification for Dai’s overpowered forehead (which is apparently called a Dragon Crest). Seeing what an effect that glowing mark had on Hadlar was an indirect promise of things to come – I’m hoping we get some adventuring and party building first, though.

Continue reading “Fall 2020 Summary – Week 5” →

Wooper: Ask and ye shall receive; we’ve got mini impressions from not one, but four writers in this edition of our weekly recap. Feels good to have some company for this column! Lenlo, Amun and Armitage pitched in to deliver thoughts on a few of the fall’s bigger shows and sequels, while I’m still banging on about weird anime comedies and a stray shounen property. It’s the new and improved Weekly Summary, y’all – enjoy, and we’ll see you next time.

Kamisama ni Natta Hi – 02/03

Armitage: I was supposed to write entire full-length posts covering this show but turns out that the events of each episode don’t lend themselves to wordy breakdowns. Still, this is one of the major torchbearers of the Fall Anime Parade and I cannot in good conscience let it air without any coverage. Which means that from now on, I shall be using the Weekly Summary section to give my thoughts on it! So far, Kamisama ni Natta Hi has essentially played out as a gag comedy anime and a solid one at that. Episode 2 was especially great with its parodies of Armageddon, Edward Scissorhands and the gut-bustingly funny Rocky skit. I am the kind of person who rarely full-on ‘laughs out loud’ but yeah, this episode got that out of me. Episode 3 too had its nice moments with Youta’s suit and sparkling MSG but it didn’t work quite as well as its predecessor. The characters, while being really entertaining, have not yet come off as people you truly care for and I hope the show remedies that in the coming weeks. Lastly, I just wanted to give a shout-out to Natsuki Hanae, the VA for Yota, as he is the one who solely makes the show such a blast to watch, displaying a voice range on par with Mamoru Miyano from Zombieland Saga. Honestly, this show is worth a watch just to hear him say “IZANAMI-SAAAAAAAN” as anime Rocky.

Golden Kamuy Season 3 – 04

Lenlo: I’m not usually a fan of comedies, anime ones especially. Something about their humor or their aesthetic just falls flat to me. So it’s always a joy when Golden Kamuy gets me chuckling for its entire run time, week after week. Something about the mix of murder and humor lines up perfectly with my love of gallows humor. It helps that every single joke has layers upon layers to it, similar in a way to classic Simpsons, though not of the same level. Take the chase scene early on for instance, Koito’s section alone has at least four jokes in 30 seconds that all build on each other. We go from the Naruto run and leap, to him running in the air, to grabbing a branch which then snaps, to his silly landing, to the branch landing on his head. It’s all small stuff, but no joke exists on its own, always building to the next.

Alternatively Golden Kamuy also establishes these episodic comedic narratives inside its larger dramatic narrative. This episode it’s Genjiro’s saga with dancing girls. His failure to actually dance, being fawned over and encouraged by children only to get a riff on a romance or career drama thrown in for good measure. There’s just something funny about this massive muscular soldier in a tutu getting fawned over by children for dancing a side-bit, and without a doubt the reaction faces help it. Suffice to say I am continuing to enjoy Golden Kamuy. From military circus jokes to “I’m gonna cut it” jokes to just how petty Koito is willing to be over his tricks. I am not caring that much about the larger narrative but god damn if this show isn’t fun.

Continue reading “Fall 2020 Summary – Week 4” →

Wooper: We’ve reached the third week of the new anime season, and you know what that means: it’s time for the hopeful anticipation of viewers everywhere to be ground into the dust of unmet expectations! Or maybe that’s just me. None of these series had showings poor enough to take them off my radar, but a couple of them are inching away from my range of interest. Shows like Jujutsu Kaisen and Kamisama ni Natta Hi are holding down the fort just fine, though, so an early misstep from the B-team isn’t the end of the world. You still get to read my complaints about a couple of recent episodes, though – and they might not be the ones you’d expect.

Maou-jou de Oyasumi 03

Maou-jou continues to be a fun weekly diversion, but there’s not much more to it than fun. Princess Syalis always completes her quests, so the show doesn’t offer much suspense – it’s her unconventional methods that serve as mild surprises each week. And what’s more surprising than stumbling upon a genie trapped inside an ancient grimoire? For most fantasy anime, the answer would be “nothing,” but according to Syalis-hime, even the latest edition of Shonen Sunday would provide more entertainment. If it isn’t contributing to her forty winks, she’s not interested, so Alazif (the spirit within the grimoire) comes and goes within the span of five minutes. The middle segment was based entirely on misunderstandings, so I could take or leave that one, but I did appreciate the detail put into the last one. The princess made use of items acquired in previous episodes for her jailbreak, creating a string of neat callbacks, and the forest she explored had an enchanted feel that paired well with the interior of the Demon King’s castle. This show may be a sleeper, but it gets a lot of mileage from that simple vibe.

Majo no Tabitabi 03

Witch Weekly busted out a two-parter for this episode, but neither story provided me with much food for thought. The first was marred by cheap computerized textures, both for the overhead shots of the meadow from the opener and the curse that afflicted the sentry at the end. A better visual representation of his poisoning would have done a lot for the conclusion, but even if the art had held up its end of the bargain, the story boiled down to “beautiful flowers can be dangerous, too.” Elaina didn’t have a participatory role in the story, and that’s fine – but if she’s going to be little more than a guide, the people she meets have to carry their weight.

The second story had the same failing, despite using more time to develop its scenario. A slave girl’s sadness at being shown a bottle full of happy memories might be touching or profound, if not for the fact that she, her master, and his son (the memory bottler) underwent precisely zero change during the episode. Majo no Tabitabi is so lesson-oriented that it hardly seems to care where it leaves its characters; the wrap-up here involved Elaina summarizing a similar story she’d once read, and criticizing the moral as being heavy-handed. Based on what I saw this week, I’d have to agree.

Continue reading “Fall 2020 Summary – Week 3” →