Fire Force is really picking up here in the second half of the season. I’ve been a huge fan of this Oasis arc – the change of scenery and some newer characters really breathed life back into this show. Let’s go!
Continue reading “Fire Force S2 – 09/10 [The Core/Woman in Black]”
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.
Continue reading “Fugou Keiji – 8 [Money burns a hole in the pocket]”
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.
Continue reading “Gunslinger Girl – 11 [Febbre Alta (High Fever)] – Throwback Thursday”
Mario: Hello everyone, this week I decided to drop Appare Ranman. It did have what I consider its best episode (episode 7) a few weeks back, but I feel no desire to watch any more of the race so I figure it’s best to leave the show on the high note. Wooper is not joining us today, and that means that this week’s content will be mostly overlooked classic stuff – but to my delight they – the classic ones – all deliver (Well, Japan Sinks still sinks deeply). Let’s break it all down:
Mario: It’s another uneven episode of Japan Sinks. It raises some interesting issues, naming how the Japanese authority deals with the situation. Saving people based on their national ID in the manner of lottery calls is intriguing, and Japan Sinks isn’t shy about showing the mixed effects of that implication to the citizens. But then along the way we get an unconvincing story of Ayumu refusing to board that ship (hey, her leg’s wound!! Anyone?), of Onodera again using his Morse code to save the day (but his backstory is never quite clear – was he a hostage back in Shan city? Does anyone in that city know about him being Onodera?). Everything happens with the extremist group and the ship of the old man just happens too quickly like a fever dream. And like a fever dream, we’re there to experience and not trying to look any deeper because the whole thing can (literally) fall apart just as quickly.
Mario: It’s the conclusion of the play and the episode consists of Sugimoto introducing Fumi to her family. It might be two very different episodes, but group it together as we, the viewers, can see another soft and spoiled side of Sugimoto, in which once again the show does it magnificently. When the sisters and mother of Sugimoto enter that room, it strikes me hard that Aoi Hana is at heart a love story about girls/ women written by a woman with an almost-entirely female cast. And within these few scenes all the personalities of the sisters and Mom are clearly defined. It might be extreme but for me you can’t find a more authentic feminine voice than this.
And how Aoi Hana focuses on Sugimoto’s immature, vulnerable side in these two episodes is masterclass. First we see her perfect, carefree facade breaking down when the teacher (her previous crush) compliments her for the play. And then on the next date where she brings Fumi to her home to announce their relationship to her family. That’s a bold (and encouraging) move, but her sisters throw her off immediately. That might be harsh from the sisters, but then again they know how to tick her little sister off and just makes Sugimoto realize how childish she is. There’s a lot going on here. Sugimoto brings Fumi home to announce their relationship and ends up breaking up with her – but in Aoi Hana fashion everything proceeds quietly and soberly.
And I just love the motifs of Aoi Hana’s characters stroking their (or other’s) hair. It feels as if they express their inner feelings through those gestures.
Look, I’ll be honest here. I am biased towards Deca-Dence.
I tend to overlook its flaws and shower praise on the many many things it does right. I do it because there simply hasn’t been another anime so unabashedly rife with real world commentary and socio-political allegory… ever? Well, certainly not one in recent memory.
And even though it has had absolute belters for episodes (especially at the start), episodes which have been an absolute delight to write about, I’ll admit that I don’t even know where to begin with this one. Continue reading “Deca-Dence – 09 [Turbo Charger]”
OreGairu is back with its light content in episode 7 (well, most of episode 7) as Hachiman sketches out and then carries out his plan. That involves a hilarious rap battle and many one-liners and carefree humor, something that I feel appropriate after all the drama of the last few episodes. First are the members of the Gaming club: Hatano and Sagami, who help Hachiman and Yui on technical stuff, and who constantly remind (us?) how much of an oddball Hachiman and that “Yahallo” greeting are. But the real sense of fun is certainly Hachiman vs Tamanawa rants, who previously had a beef with Hachiman, and who OreGairu has the most fun to animate (and now: voice act). But it’s funny to see a much more scaled down version of this collaboration, as Kaihin Sogo Student Council only has Tamanawa and Orimoto (who, like Yui, is clueless in the matters) this time.
Maybe I am in the minority here, but I am one of those who are still on board with how OreGairu presents and wraps up its conflicts and still think it’s as great as the second season. So before we get into the rap-battle and “one of them grants someone’s wish for someone else” part, let’s just run through what episode 5 & 6 cover. There are a lot of Iroha’s precious moments in these two installments, further cementing her as the near-lead status.
Indeed, when you think of OreGairu’s supporting cast, her presence is shinier than everyone else. And one of the reasons why Iroha’s character works so well is because she has the best dynamic with Hachiman. Not only do they bounce off each other well (like in the conversation they have in episode 6), but like every good relationship Iroha is more of herself when she’s around Hachiman, and that Hachiman’s action can inspire or ignite something in her. Take Hachiman and Yukinon key confrontation at the end of episode 5, for example. Iroha serves merely as a witness to their bonds, or more like Hachiman and Yukinon showing their mutual love to each other – a confession of sorts. What I love about that confrontation is that, just like Iroha, we as the audience witness our main characters making real steps forward in their relationships.
If the MAL episode count is correct, we have four more episodes before the series goes on break as the second cour will air in January 2021. I swear that the wait between episodes currently is a grueling affair so to have that wait extended into a three month wait is something I dread. But the future is tomorrow and today is the present so one should thank the blessings given today rather than lament the blessing forsaken tomorrow. Besides, Crunchyroll has already begun dubbing the second Season of Re:Zero so I could rewatch the series in dub to tide myself over.Either way the string of truly excellent episodes continues with today’s episode being an engaging experience that I once again lost track of time. What has happened today between the waifu witches and Subaru? Dona tea and biscuits abound so start the kettle and let’s talk.
Continue reading “Re:Zero Starting Life in Another World 2 – 09 [Love Love Love Love Love Love You]”
This is the first time I’ve missed a week of GOH-posting, and that’s not by coincidence. The show isn’t bringing its A game to the fight scenes anymore, and since it maxes at a C in most other areas, it’s become a bit of a dull watch. These two episodes tread a lot of familiar ground, as well, making them doubly uninteresting. Mira getting beaten up again, Mori earning the title “tiger cub” as elite martial artists admire his potential, a sketchy art switch-up during a tournament match, Taejin’s relationship with his grandson – we’ve seen all of this before. If I’m being honest, I’d prefer for the plot to go supernova and give all the main characters charyeok so we could get this show on the road, already. Guess we’ll have to settle for just one of them awakening to their new power for now.
Continue reading “The God of High School – 8-9 [close/friend, curse/cornered]”
Right.
So, how’re things goin’ on this ol’ blog of ours? Last I checked, I worked here and used to write weekly reviews for seasonal anime but that was almost a whole… * flips back calendar pages * month ago.
Wow. Time sure flies by, huh?
But what can ya do? Sometimes real-life stuff takes precedence over our creative projects and of course, we anime fans are not unfamiliar to such hiatuses. * cries in Hunter x Hunter *
Anywho, getting to the agenda for today: Deca-Dence!
We have had three installments of the show since the time I last wrote about it so let’s quickly look at how our rag-tag team of tanker-gears and their alien overlords is faring these days, shall we? Continue reading “Deca-Dence – 06+07+08 [Radiator | Driveshaft | Turbine]”