Spice and Wolf S1 – 1 [Wolf and Best Clothes] – Throwback Thursday

by Lenlo, posted in Spice and Wolf, Throwback Thursday

Hello and welcome to a new season of Throwback Thursday, now featuring the 2008 mercantile simulator Spice and Wolf! This has been on my list for a long time, so its nice to have an excuse to see it. Maybe I can finally figure out what all the hubbub around this Holo girl is.  So without further ado, lets dive in to Spice and Wolf!

As always with these things, lets talk about production first. Initial impressions of Spice and Wolf are… not great. The character designs are very mid-2000’s, low-detail faces and the big moe eyes, etc. And something about the proportion, the structure, of Laurence’s face feels off to me. Maybe its how his chin looks when facing the camera, I’m not sure. Meanwhile the actual animation is almost non-existent. That makes sense since this is a Slice of Life show about merchants. This isn’t a deal breaker if Spice and Wolf has good direction moving forward though. If it can give us some iconic shots with good composition like our last series, Twelve Kingdoms did, then it will be fine. I do want to say before I move on though that the backgrounds are quite nice. It does a great job of establishing locations them and I’m looking forward to more.

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Beastars 2 – 02 [The Grey Police Hound Runs]

by SuperMario, posted in Beastars, Currently Watching:

Beastars is back (and I am, too. It has been a while). Beastars was one of my favorite anime in the last few years, so naturally I was eager for this next installment. These first two episodes of this new season kinda push a reset button to its core story: Haru has limited screentime, other characters are on their new character arcs. They return to Tem’s murder mystery – which was never the main focus in the first season – and set Legosi up to be the central figure of it all. I do find it amusing for Beastars to tab in different directions, but at the same time it feels as if Beastars takes a detour with a different focus to its carnivore/ herbivore themes. 

But boy was this second episode full of surprises.

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SK8 the Infinity – 02 [Awesome for the First Time]

by SuperWooper, posted in Finished Series: Sports, SK8 the Infinity

Am I watching a 2021 anime series or a 2001 Jimmy Eat World music video? That’s the question I had to ask myself at a couple points during this episode, so similar were its guitar-heavy soundtrack and punk-lite style to the bands of my youth. SK8 the Infinity isn’t merely a nostalgic trip, though – its use of CG backgrounds and approach to color design (“just use all of them”) are exceedingly modern. The frequent cuts to cartoon versions of the characters bear a loose resemblance to street graffiti, as well, giving the show a unique brand of visual comedy. All of this is wrapped in a love for skateboarding that even an energetic anime like SK8 can scarcely contain. It’s a sophisticated production with a simple story, which could make for tough blogging, but I’m enjoying the hell out of the series so far, so I’ll give it a whirl.

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Horimiya – 02 [You Wear More Than One Face]

by SuperWooper, posted in Finished Series: Romance, Horimiya

I intended to cover Back Arrow this season instead of Horimiya, but then I rewatched that show’s premiere to get a better handle on its terminology and worldbuilding, and had to pause to take notes every 30 seconds (also it’s a two cour show, which is something of a commitment). So I jumped ship to a comfy romcom – one with which I have a bit of prior experience, having seen the OVA that began in 2012. That version still gets updated every couple years (with two new episodes due this May), though its web manga art style is much more limited than what the TV adaptation has delivered thus far. That’s not to say this new version is a visual stunner, as its plain backgrounds and hair-swapped character designs are perhaps its biggest failings. Everything else is great, though, so let’s talk about it.

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2020 Anime Awards and Top 10 List

by SuperWooper, posted in Yearly Summaries

Lenlo: 2020 was a year many would probably like to forget. Trapped inside from a pandemic as, at least in America, the world burns down around them. But there was one good thing not being allowed to leave our house gave us: anime. So much time to watch anime. From the wild rides of Dorohedoro and Attack on Titan from Studio MAPPA to the relaxing works of Sleepy Princess and Asteroid in Love from Studio Doga Kobo, we had time to experience it all. And now that the year is over there is just one last thing to do before we can leave it all behind: yell about which one is the best, or worst, until the other writers here at Star Crossed give up and accept it. So without further ado let’s look at the best and the worst of 2020 before we wave goodbye to the worst year in a long, long time.

Worst of the Worst

Worst Show: Japan Sinks

Armitage: It’s tradition to start off these year-end awards posts with the worst stuff we had to sit through in the year but this time, for a change, we are actually starting on a high! And by that I mean a literal high because Sweet Jesus on a bicycle, what were the people who made this smoking up during its production??! I have never been a fan of Masaaki Yuasa’s animation style but the least you can expect from him is to deliver some sort of thematic coherence in all of his series. And then, there’s Japan Sinks. Best described as a love-child between disaster dramas like Tokyo Magnitude and a worrying lack of script supervision, Japan Sinks is a travesty on every narrative front. No caricatures it sells as characters are relatable, people are killed off purely in the name of shock value, in-your-face nationalism is rampant and decisions made by all of said caricatures make as much sense as a chicken petting a leprechaun. At a point you can tell that the creators just don’t know how to write a series because they decide to go full-Daniel. And as is written in holy anime sacrament, you never go full-Daniel.

Runner-up: MAGIA RECORD, for being the spinoff that no one asked for, and leaning so much on gacha game conventions that the story meandered instead of advancing forward.

Biggest Disappointment:
Kamisama ni Natta Hi

Amun: Ah, Jun Maeda. I won’t even touch on the latest drama, but certainly a polarizing figure to say the least. However, I was firmly in the positive camp with Angel Beats and Charlotte being quite enjoyable (I’m mixed on Little Busters). Naturally, I had high hopes for Kamisama ni Natta Hi and it delivered – but only in the first half. A “last summer” show – a known, established trope, no problem. Like a magician’s trick judged not on whether you’re fooled but on showmanship, I expected Kamisama to walk down established paths – familiar but well executed. Sadly, the “feels train” detonated spectacularly in the final episodes, undoing any good or goodwill accumulated by a decent plot. With a finale of unprecedentedly poor writing (possibly only rivaled by School Days, depending on if you took the show seriously), Kamisama drove decent characters, setting, and story directly into the realm of the unbelievable and, frankly, a little disturbing – all for a shoe-horned “good ending”. Which it may have been for the author’s warped vision, but no other sentient viewers will agree. Many shows are bad, but few manage to build such expectations only to damn them to such depths. For this disparity, Kamisama ni Natta Hi will certainly be remembered…and not fondly.

Runner-up: THE GOD OF HIGH SCHOOL, for being a massively entertaining popcorn romp through its first half, and a head-scratching crapfest that got so absurd and over-the-top in its second half that it would even make Michael Bay blush while loading an episode on Crunchyroll.

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Jujutsu Kaisen – 14 [Kyoto Sister School Exchange Event 0]

by Lenlo, posted in Jujutsu Kaisen

Welcome back to Jujutsu Kaisen everyone! We had a pretty sizeable break after a pretty emotional arc and its time to see what’s in store for us next. So without further ado, lets dive in!

Starting off I want to talk about what’s new this week, the OP and ED. Both were always going to be difficult to follow up, with the ED especially being one of if not the best of 2020. Rather than fight a losing battle with style thought, MAPPA has gone for something more heartwarming and it works. I like the use of the vertical camera and phone recording to really immerse us in Itadori’s perspective. Meanwhile the actual shots themselves are lit and animated beautifully, with Nobara’s reaction on the beach especially standing out. As for the OP, it once again has some stunning lighting and water effects. Its not as great as the first, with the song especially not doing much for me. But all in all I think it’s a perfectly fine OP for a new cour. But enough about that you want to talk spoilers.

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Winter 2021 Coverage & First Episode Awards

by SuperWooper, posted in Uncategorized

Wooper: Much of the recent talk around the Star Crossed water cooler has been unusually optimistic. Winter 2021 looks to be a promising season for anime – the best in a couple years, at least. Whether you’re into blockbuster franchises, slice of life sequels, or original projects, there’s something here for everyone to enjoy. In light of this excellent slate of shows, we’re taking on more blogging duties than usual. Writing machine Lenlo is up to four posts per week, and both Aidan and Mario are back to cover personal favorites. Our weekly recap columns will be returning soon, as well, so you can expect a veritable flood of content from us each week. Oh, and our Best of 2020 post is going live in just a few days, as well. We hope you enjoy!

Winter 2021 Lineup

Lenlo: Jujutsu Kaisen, Dr.STONE: Stone Wars, 2.43 Seiin Koukou Danshi Volley-bu, Spice and Wolf (Throwback Thursday)

Mario: Beastars S2, Wonder Egg Priority

Wooper: SK8 the Infinity, Back Arrow Horimiya

Aidan: Re:Zero S2 Part 2

Amun: Weekly Summary duty

Armitage: Studying for entrance exams

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2.43 Seiin Koukou Danshi Volley-bu – 2 [The Best and Worst Playmaker]

by Lenlo, posted in 2.43 Seiin Koukou Danshi Volley-bu

Hello everyone and welcome to a new season and a new year! Lets hope this one is better than the last, eh? Now, with Haikyu over you may have thought you could escape weekly volleyball coverage, but nay! I have found a replacement and its name is 2.43 Seiin Koukou Danshi Volley-bu! But I’m just gonna call it Volley-Bu cause that shits long. So without further ado, lets dive in to Volley-Bu! Heh… it rhymes.

Starting off, I always have to talk about the production. Sadly though it seems as if Volley-Bu has taken a step backwards from the first episode here. The animation wasn’t great there either, with most of the actual hits and blocks lacking a lot of weight and impact. But the snappy direction made up for a lot of that and gave most of it a sense of momentum. This second episode doesn’t have that though. Most of the shots, the cuts, it all felt pretty standard and didn’t do enough to make up for the animation. Its understandable, volleyball is a very active and hard to animate sport after all, but it is a little disappointing. One thing I can praise Volley-Bu for though are the backgrounds. Maybe its just because I have a thing for snow, but they really are stunning, especially the early morning or late afternoon shots.

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Winter 2021 Sequel Impressions: Dr. Stone, Slime Isekai, Log Horizon

by SuperWooper, posted in Some Quick First Impressions

Dr. Stone: Stone Wars

Short Synopsis: A science whiz freeze dries ramen to give himself the edge in an impending war.

Wooper: I have to respect Dr. Stone for launching into its second season after the briefest of recaps. Many long-running anime in a similar situation would spend 10+ minutes holding the audience’s hand during the catchup process, or else fill time with a thin side story to remind us who the characters are. Of course, it helps that Stone’s limited animation keeps the per-episode work on the low side, so the story can progress without delay. That’s been this show’s M.O. from the beginning, though, so there’s no sense in docking points for it now. Rather than concern itself with looks, Dr. Stone is all about concepts, and the tactical introduction of freeze dried food and mobile phones into a prehistoric setting is a hell of a concept. I’ve got to shout out the series’ music, as well, which is easily the best component of its production. The soundtrack is not only varied, but well-deployed, bridging scenes by extending and cutting songs at just the right length; the return of that seamless experience is just one of the reasons to be glad for Dr. Stone’s return. I won’t be watching this one week to week, but it’ll probably get the marathon treatment around the mid-year mark.

Potential: 60%

Lenlo: Like Wooper says, Dr. STONE launched right back into the story with a gusto I found impressive. Even the way the recap was done, presenting it as Gen telling a story, was a nice bit of detail. Meanwhile the episode itself did a good job of reintroducing characters while still moving the plot forward. Bringing them in slowly, giving each of them things to do or small lines to remind us who they were. By the end of the episode it felt like the series had never left at all! As for the animation, while it was never Dr. STONE’s strong suit I do think the way it balances between comedic exaggerated gags and serious, sharp linework is praiseworthy. Personally, my only major concern is the shift in focus towards the Stone Wars conflict. Dr. STONE was never an action series, and its combat scenes in the first season prove that. Maybe we will see an improvement here, but if not I fear that we may be in for a bumpy ride anytime the science isn’t front and center. All in all though, if you enjoyed the first season of Dr. STONE then I would wager you are going to enjoy this. It just needs to give us more of the same.

Potential: 65%

Slime Isekai S2

Short Synopsis: A shapeshifting teacher quits his job and re-assumes command of a nation of monsters.

Lenlo: I’ll be honest, I lost interest in Slime about halfway through the first season when it shifted away from a game of fantasy civilization and towards a more action focus. When it does that, Slime has a tendency to abandon all that made it interesting and become just another isekai power fantasy. Sadly, that appears to be what we are seeing here as well, with the episode ending on yet another pointless fight. There might be some potential in the politics focus and maybe we will get to see more development of them as a budding nation, but I don’t have my hopes up. That said, if you liked the end of the first season then it appears you will be getting more of the same here.

Potential: 30%

Wooper: That Long Title Ending with Slime is back for another season of pretty yet patronizing nation-building. This is the only show in the reincarnation genre that I’ve ever managed to tolerate for a full cour, let alone two, but I’m not sure whether I’ll continue with it beyond this point. The backgrounds are still attractive; detailed, geometrically-pleasing buildings and stylized vegetation make Tempest look like a place where you might actually want to be reborn. The characters are also neatly drawn – the series’ motley depiction of goblins and ogres is one of the best things about it. Meanwhile, the tendency to worship its ultra-powerful, meccha kawaii hero continues to be one of Slime’s worst qualities. Rimuru’s strength is essential to the series because it allows him to rule benevolently, I get that, but if you played a “MC gets praised” drinking game while watching this show you’d be dead in a matter of hours. It subtracts from the challenge of raising a country from scratch, a process that looks to be this season’s focus as Rimuru welcomes hostile messengers and sends envoys to neighboring kingdoms. Will the show concern itself more with the intricacies of that process, or push the “slime to win” button and gloss over the things that make it interesting? It’s essentially a coin flip, hence the grade.

Potential: 50%

Log Horizon S3

Short Synopsis: A group of MMO-bound players deal with setbacks in their quest to return to the real world.

Lenlo: I struggled for a long time to figure out what to write about Log Horizon here. It doesn’t feel as if anything has really changed, yet is this a good thing? I still remember the characters fondly, and the general plot along with it. The setting is still nice and I enjoy the continued focus on MMO-style politics. But anime has changed since 2014 but it doesn’t feel like Log Horizon has changed with it. Everything about its production still feels the same as it was 6 years ago and I can’t help but feel underwhelmed by that. Maybe as it goes I will rediscover my passion for the series, but for now I can’t help but look at it and think that my nostalgia might have lied to me.

Potential: 40%

Re:Zero Starting Life in Another World 2 – 15 [Otto Suwen/A Reason to Believe]

by AidanAK47, posted in Currently Watching:, Re:Zero -Starting Life in Another World

It’s been two episodes and we have yet to hear the opening for the second cour and considering how little the last opening was used, I wonder if they will forgo even making an anime opening and just use the song in scenes. Now looking at common consensus the reception to this episode was quite positive and being a Re:Zero fan myself I don’t really like to be the wet blanket to that response. However I will say that I only really liked half of this episode, that half being the second part. Bits of the reason pertain to something I believe I mentioned in one of my posts on the first cour, namely that Re:Zero is not really an action series so when it focuses on action it can be to its detriment. The first season did have some notable action scenes but I would never consider them the highlight of the show and in our current environment I don’t believe that they can deliver on action when the first cour of the second season showed a noticeable hit to production. I only spotted it recently myself but you may notice that the ears of characters are considerably less detailed than the first season. I know that is a weird thing to comment on which would likely solicit a well deserved “Who cares?” but I feel it’s the easy way to distinguish the quality drop when you see they stopped shading the ears and they are mostly now just a squiggly line on skin tone. It’s one of those things you wish you could no longer notice once you do see it so my apologies in advance. Maybe they might fix it up when the blu-rays come out as they have done quite a lot of rework on the blu-ray releases before.
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