Fugou Keiji – 7 [Money is the root of all evil]

by Lenlo, posted in Fugou Keiji: Balance: UNLIMITED

This week on Fugou Keiji we get flashbacks in flashbacks as Kiyomizu recounts the unsolved Kambe murder mystery! We have politics, intrigue, corruption and a dash of homicide. So without further ado, lets jump right in!

As far as the episode goes, it was rather weird. The whole first half was a flashback, complete with black bars and everything to make sure we knew. And while it was a good flashback, laying the groundwork for everything else, the 2nd half went off the rails a bit. We will talk about spoilers after the break but this is an example of Fugou Keiji’s identity issue rearing its head again. In the last few episodes it seemed that Fugou Keiji had decided what it wanted to be, a serious detective drama. However this episodes ending bit with the VR clashed with that. Except unlike previous instances of this, such as the old ladies and the boy-band, this one was actually used in a narratively important way. This wasn’t a throw-away absurd gag but rather a serious part of the narrative, and it broke it a little for me.

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Gunslinger Girl – 10 [Amare (To Love)] – Throwback Thursday

by Lenlo, posted in Gunslinger Girl, Throwback Thursday

A day late on this weeks Gunslinger Girl, I know. Personally, I blame the pandemic because I have lost all sense of time, stuck at home all day. Enough about my excuses though, lets talk child assassins!

This weeks episode of Gunslinger Girl was a weird. Narratively it was all rather straight forward, and we will get to that in a bit. But in terms of direction I can’t help but think it was a mess. It felt like we were watching 3 separate timelines that were cut together without any real indication of which one we were currently watching. Is the Sicily trip the present? The murder investigation? Where does Henrietta getting a present fit into all of that, or Triela calling the investigators? All of these scenes look the same, so its impossible to tell when one occurs compared to the others chronologically. I get what they were going for, trying to run these threads in parallel so they can reveal information pertinent to another thread at the same time. But without any kind of indication, it just comes off as a mess.

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Re:Zero Starting Life in Another World 2 – 08 [The Value of Life]

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

Ah that’s right, this show has an opening doesn’t it? It’s very easy to forget when it’s barely used though that is by no means a complaint. More content trumps replaying the opening any day. So for today’s episode many are calling it Re:Zero’s best episode yet, even though it seems that every new episode is Re:Zero’s best episode to date. I do agree that this was a pretty great episode but I am not sure if I would put it on the level of previous greats. It may require a rewatch or perhaps my knowledge of the web novel dulled the impact it would have had but I feel it didn’t hit the same highs as previous standouts. Indeed I would even say that there were a couple of points during the forest scene that I found a bit jarring. The quick cut between the forest and Subaru being teleported to his previous place of confinement being a rather confusing shift. Though that may be intentional or the result of Nagatsuki shortening the length of arc 4 for the light novel adaption.
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Lupin III The Woman Called Fujiko Mine – 4 [Vissi d’arte, Vissi d’amore]

by Lenlo, posted in Currently Watching:, Lupin III - Mine Fujiko to Iu Onna

Whew, its been a long wait since my last post on Fujiko Mine, but I have an excuse, I promise. I’ll let you know what it is when I think of it. In the meantime, this episode on Fujiko Mine we see the return of Lupin and Zenigata in a story straight out off the stage! So lets dive right in.

Right off the bat, this episode was nothing like what I was expecting. I figured we would start to see some team-ups, and in a way we got that with Lupin’s return. However the primary focus seemed instead to be on Zenigata and getting him properly introduced to the plot. We met him before of course, all the way back in episode one, but this is our first proper look at him. And what a look it is. This is easily the most misogynistic episode of anime I have seen in awhile, and I can’t tell if Fujiko Mine did it on purpose. So many of Zenigata’s interactions with Fujiko were demeaning or sexual in nature, really just nailing her with sexist jokes/actions over and over. There is probably something in there about lust vs love, considering the episodes topic, but Fujiko Mine really laid it on thick here.

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Summer 2020 Summary – Week 6-7

by SuperMario, posted in Weekly Summary

Houkago Teibou Nisshi – 07

Wooper: This episode was a reaction face gold mine. As Hina gets more comfortable around her new friends in the Breakwater Club, she’s less cautious about letting her feelings show on her features, which means her hero worship of Oono and disdain for Natsumi have become obvious to everyone. This week’s stories shone a different light on each of those characters, however, poking a hammer-shaped hole in Oono’s athletic image, and revealing the booksmart side of Natsumi’s personality. Though there was nothing visually noteworthy about Hina visiting her friend’s house to study, it was still my favorite of the two halves because of how it treated their friendship. The reveal that Hina had never visited a friend’s house before was thankfully a casual one, but I’m sure she appreciated the chance, and Natsumi’s pre-midterm helpfulness and interest in her friend’s handicraft hobby were really kind. Now that we’ve seen this side of both girls, I’d like to see a softening of their teasing dynamic during club meetings and fishing outings – though I’m sure the relationship will work either way going forward.

Japan Sinks – 06

Mario: This episode wraps up the Shan city arc and ho boy, it’s not great. I see a lot of lost opportunity here in this arc, and I question the roles of many characters here as well. Take Daniel, for example. His placement in this arc feels really odd for me. Is he supposed to be an outsider (his nationality) to signal the Mutoh family about how he has no place to return to? Then why does he fit the living style in Shan city like a glove? And then the cult leader. Are we supposed to take her superpower seriously? What is the meaning behind exploring the cult’s strange activities and worships and then proceed to end it with an earthquake? And then the poor boy who just says that one line before the huge rock falls over his head. I don’t know if we are supposed to feel shock, but there was good comedic timing right there.

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Great Pretender – 11-12 [Snow of London]

by SuperWooper, posted in Finished Series: Mystery/Suspense, Great Pretender

This is the year of Great Pretender. The first 14 episodes were recently made available worldwide on Netflix, and the back 9 will be released in Japan next month, at which point fansubbers can do their thing. The only downside to the whole thing airing in 2020 is that it can’t be AOTY twice in a row – but I’m getting ahead of myself. We’ve got to investigate its third case, Snow of London, to see whether the show is still on track to compete for that title. After two episodes, this arc is off to a strong start, so hit the jump for some unqualified praise for once.

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Re:Zero Starting Life in Another World 2 – 07 [Friend]

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

While Re:Zero has had a slow start, once it’s got going it hasn’t stopped. I again feel that same anticipation upon starting and the dejection upon finishing an episode because I know I need to wait another week for a continuation. This episode was when I felt that level of immersion that this 26 minute episode felt like five minutes and when the credits rolled I was in disbelief that it was over already. In that regard I may not have much to say about this week’s episode as there were only about three critical events. The talk with Beatrix, Subaru’s imprisonment and the eventual rescue. So I guess we should start with the first.

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Fugou Keiji – 6 [Ill Got, Ill Spent]

by Lenlo, posted in Fugou Keiji: Balance: UNLIMITED

Come one, come all, to the week of Fugou Keiji’s metamorphosis! This week we have intrigue, mystery and a dash of murder. So without further ado, lets dive in.

Starting off, this week completes Fugou Keiji’s transformation from a comedic parody of rich superheroes to a legitimate detective series. Where once the money-based gags were front and center, they have since become the moments of levity between harrowing intrigue. And I am loving it. I said in prior posts that I preferred Fugou Keiji when it was a parody. At the time that was true. I wasn’t convinced at that point that the series could pull off a serious detective story. Daisuke was to ridiculous and the presentation to comedic. Which is I want to think its incredible just how well Fugou Keiji managed this slow tonal shift. Over the course of 3 episodes it toned down the comedy and dialed up the drama bit by bit. Until we got to where we are today, all without ever giving away the game until Daisuke blows up a car.

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Gunslinger Girl – 9 [Lycoris Radiata Herb (Cluster Amaryllis)] – Throwback Thursday

by Lenlo, posted in Gunslinger Girl, Throwback Thursday

You all know the drill at this point, its another episode of Gunslinger Girl! We got guns, we got depression, and both are delivered by this weeks new girl Elsa. So without further ado, lets dive in!

Starting off, quick call out as Gunslinger Girl brought back its animation chops this week. Elsa’s opening firefight in the hotel was chef kiss, great. I will always love how fluid the series can be with the girls movements or the bullet casings falling to the ground. It makes the rest of the series seem stilted in comparison at times. Moving on though, this episode introduces us to another sort of “bad” Handler/Assassin relationship. Until now the primary example of that was Jean and Rico, with a very “Tool/Master” relationship. It was very professional in nature, with Rico knowing and being completely OK with this arrangement. Here though with Elsa and Lauro, we are shown a relationship of extremes. One of obsession and utter disinterest, both taking elements of prior relationships to terrible extremes. To be frank? It’s pretty damn interesting.

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