Re:Zero Starting Life in Another World 2 – 11 [The Taste of Death]

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

In my coverage of this series I can acknowledge that I have likely spent too many of my posts covering the actual events of the episodes as opposed to my opinions on them. When considering that this is my favorite series of the season and surely my favorite of the year, it would be easy to drum up opinions on episodes that I clearly enjoy. However I have found myself restricted by my own declaration to not spoil details from the source as the current events in Re:Zero are dependent on mystery and speculation to which I cannot speculate due to my own knowledge of future events. Still it is also an issue that the quality of the series speaks for itself as when airing the first season had a more polarising view to the anime community but in light of a four year wait and the outstanding calibre of the second season, many are rethinking it to be a potential anime masterpiece. So what am I to say when you could just watch the series and see it’s splendor for yourself? Perhaps it will still not be everyone’s cup of tea but as many a corporate capitalist media maker fails to realise, a story tailored to everyone is a story that appeals to no one. Taking that into account, I am just going to assume you have seen the episodes plot and meander into my adulation and diatribes.
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The God of High School – 10-11 [oath/meaning, lay/key]

by SuperWooper, posted in Finished Series: Action, The God of High School

These two episodes delivered exactly what I wanted from The God of High School at this late stage: nonstop action between ultra-powerful fighters. They also abandoned all pretense of caring about story or characterization, which isn’t a bad thing – the cast’s believability has been on the skid since late July, and the plot hasn’t fared much better. Now that celestial combat techniques and carnivorous tentacle monsters are the show’s main concerns, it’s free to blow itself up in the season finale, and I won’t feel obligated to watch a potential sequel. Plus, we’ll get some nonsensical, animator-driven action along the way, as we did this week. Many shounen fans will have bailed on GOH by this point due to its lack of cohesion, but I’m still here, and vaguely looking forward to the conclusion. If you’re with me, hit the jump and witness my futile attempt at parsing its most recent pair of episodes.

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Fire Force S2 – 11 [Dark Hero]…plus an update on the future

by Amunchet, posted in Currently Watching:, Fire Force

Here we are again.  I was feeling pretty good after the last two episodes – both solid outings. 

BUT. 

This week, it’s just another episode of Fire Force with immense potential….squandered.  This may be one of the last episodes I review, as we’ll discuss at the end of the post.  But for now, let’s get into this tragedy of an episode.

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Fugou Keiji – 9 [A golden key can open any door]

by Lenlo, posted in Fugou Keiji: Balance: UNLIMITED

Another week, another episode of Fugou Keiji! This week we confront Shigemaru, Daisuke pulls a Christopher Nolan and Modern Crimes finally get their time to shine. So without further ado, lets dive in!

Once again I have to say that Fugou Keiji could have done so much more. Whether it be playing up the serious drama with HEUSC or taking away Daisuke’s money. Show us how he has grown since the series started, show us what he can do without his technology. Have him grow to be self-sufficient like Kato, etc. Yes this takes away from the “Batman” or rich boy power fantasy Fugou Keiji started as. But the series itself has already moved away from that when it became more of a serious crime drama. However I am not here to be a debby-downer, because regardless of what more it could have done, I really enjoyed Fugou Keiji this week. From the consistent Batman references to the Modern Crimes shenanigans, everything was just a lot of fun, and I won’t complain about what we got.

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Gunslinger Girl – 12 [Simbiosi (Symbiosis)] – Throwback Thursday

by Lenlo, posted in Gunslinger Girl, Throwback Thursday

You know, its still technically Thursday for me when I send up this Gunslinger Girl post, so i’m not really late. My own poor scheduling aside, considering how much more consistent it is than the other writers snap, lets dive into some cyborg children! Damn that sounds weird to say.

Getting into the episode, right off the bat I am going to say I wasn’t a big fan. Once again Gunslinger Girl is cutting back to the terrorist/politics plot, following up on Filippo’s information from prior episodes. They made a plan, used Claes as bait, things went wrong, etc. Everything you would expect from an episode about espionage. But my issue is that Gunslinger Girl is neither enough of an action show nor enough of a drama to make this work. Action wise, Gunslinger Girl occasionally has some good scenes, decent fights. But we didn’t get anything spectacular enough to really hold our attention this week. Meanwhile on the drama side, which can often carry lackluster action like in Re:Zero, there is very little emotional investment or catharsis. What do I mean by that? Well follow me after the break and i’ll talk about it.

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Re:Zero Starting Life in Another World 2 – 10 [I know hell]

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

As it stands I would say there are only two characters in anime(Or even all of fiction) who can say “I know hell” and make me truly believe it. The first being Sakura Matou who experienced a childhood so horrific that it could drive an ordinary person to madness just to experience three days of what she endured. The second being Natsuki Subaru who has experienced death a total of sixteen times and gone through experiences that, despite what they may claim, would break any watchers mind down to splinters. Though to know hell is but one thing and while Subaru has experienced it, I doubt he has gone through the worst it has to offer. With another episode Re:Zero continues a string of great episodes that could very well go to the end of the cour and the viewers will be experiencing the hell of cold turkey.
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[Manga Musings on Mondays] Our Wonderful Days – Review

by Armitage, posted in Manga Musings on Mondays, Reviews by Armitage

Created by: Kei Hamuro

Chapters: 19

 

That’s right, people! Your eyes are not deceiving you. Manga Musings is BACK!

Um… kinda.

Like most people all over the world, I too have been feeling a general sense of demotivation and have been procrastinating endlessly for the past few months (Well, the procrastination was always there, the lack of motivation is new). I had been going through a terrible anime/manga slump and thus, for a long long time, I was on the lookout for a manga to rekindle my love for the medium.

After months of fruitless toil, I finally chanced upon this lovely little story of four high school girls just hanging out and being nice to each other! Continue reading “[Manga Musings on Mondays] Our Wonderful Days – Review” →

Fugou Keiji – 8 [Money burns a hole in the pocket]

by Lenlo, posted in Fugou Keiji: Balance: UNLIMITED

Hello all and welcome to a rather late chat about Fugou Keiji! I blame Crusader Kings 3 personally, I was a bit busy conquering all of Europe. That aside, this week we get answers to a few mysteries only to have a few more introduced. Cho goes the way of all retired cops and Daisuke gets an unexpected reunion. So without further ado, lets dive in!

Overall, this was a pretty lackluster episode of Fugou Keiji for me. Everything about it felt rushed, felt like it needed more time. More time to expand on the mystery, more time to build up the characters or explore various parts of the setting. Iin this one episode Fugou Keiji introduced and resolved multiple different plots/mysteries, burning through its plot. Take for example the Third Laboratory which Cho introduces this week. We learn where Shigemaru was working, where he met his wife, where the gas from the Presidents assassination attempt was manufactured. However instead of getting an arc about discovering where it is, how to break in, why it was removed from the records etc, its all shoved into this one episode. Kato figures it out from a photo, we immediately drive over and bust in, only to discover something we already knew. It’s wasted potential.

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Gunslinger Girl – 11 [Febbre Alta (High Fever)] – Throwback Thursday

by Lenlo, posted in Gunslinger Girl, Throwback Thursday

Another week another late post of Gunslinger Girl! I can only blame the pandemic so many times before it stops working as an excuse, but here we are. So without further ado lets dive into the episode and see what Henrietta and Jose are doing on vacation!

Overall, this episode was basically just a follow up to the last, unraveling what all happened. For the slower members of the audience it outright stated what happened with Elsa, while for the rest of us it followed up on Fermi’s side of things. Following Henrietta and Jose to Sicily, chatting with each other and discussing the philosophies of the Agency etc. There really wasn’t much new here. Rather, Gunslinger Girl seemingly took the opportunity to reframe things, to make us look at it from another angle. As up until now we have primarily seen the story from the perspective of the Cyborgs, from Henrietta and co. This episode seems to want to zoom out and explore it a bit from the Fratello’s side though. Letting Jose discuss it with Fermi while showing us just how close Henrietta is to ending up like Elsa herself.

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