The God of High School is nobody’s idea of a “smart” anime, but this episode was stupid even by the standards of the first three.
Continue reading “The God of High School – 04 [marriage/bonds]”
The God of High School – 04 [marriage/bonds]
Fire Force S2 – 04 [Groping Through the Fire]
One day, and I hope one day soon, Fire Force will decide whether or not it’s a great anime. Unfortunately, that day is not this week, as “Groping Through The Fire” (pretty sure that’s on purpose), showcases this mixed bag of a series to the fullest extent.
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Lupin III: The Woman Called Fujiko Mine – 1 [Master Thief vs. Lady Looter]
Welcome all to a very irregular segment for The Woman Called Fujiko Mine. Because of how small this season was, I wanted to fill in our coverage a bit, and thought it was a good opportunity to watch something that’s been on my list for awhile now. And heads up, this series is going to be irregular just as I watch it, so I hope you stick with me, as we watch some Lupin!
Right out the gate, my goodness was that an unexpected amount of titty. I always thought Lupin III was a more… childish show to be frank. An old classic detective show, something more in the Disney style. I assumed things like Goemon’s Spray of Blood being the black sheep of the series. Turns out that was just par for the course, as Fujiko Mine opens with incredible style. Lots of heavy shading and crosshatching, disguising CGI with said shading while at the same time keeping Lupin’s classic character design. The long story short is that Fujiko Mine looks good, like really good. I think Fujiko’s tits are a bit to large myself and show seems to really revel in that sexuality. However overall it visually looked fantastic. I can only hope it keeps this up moving forward because its a nice breath of fresh air in this current season.
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Re:Zero Starting Life in Another World 2 – 03 [The Long-Awaited Reunion]
Thus enters one of my top contenders for favorite Re:Zero character, Echidna, the witch of Greed and while she does not fill that Rem shaped hole in my heart, she certainly does make for a scene stealing character. Hopefully not to the extent that she takes Rem’s place in overshadowing the actual main heroine of the series but if we are to get more of her my only response can be “Yes, Please”. When one considers the witches of Re:Zero we can only base it on the only witch we know of, the Witch of Envy Satella, which does paint them in a nefarious light. To this point we have seen them as a calamitous enemy of the people and Echidna certainly does seem to wish to present the character of a wise fearful character. Indeed if that was all she was then that would be a typical if not boring development but instead we have a character who is far more playful and relatable. The best moment of the episode to me was her ready to play the exposition device for Subaru and a normal protagonist would have sat down and let her worldbuild to her heart’s content. Not Subaru, he just brushes her off by asking to go home and causes her to drop any semblance of the persona she put up to complain about how he is declining a meeting that others would kill to have. Showing that it isn’t so much that Subaru needs to talk to her but rather she wants to talk to him.
Continue reading “Re:Zero Starting Life in Another World 2 – 03 [The Long-Awaited Reunion]”
The God of High School – 03 [wisdom/kingdom]
After three episodes, The God of High School still has no intention of explaining why its martial arts tournament is of such earth-shattering consequence. Top Korean politicians are involved in its operation, the Pentagon is monitoring its progress, and now a religious cult is planning to hijack the tourney for its own gain. In all three of these opening scenes, the links between those organizations and the tournament itself have been purposefully vague, which has surely frustrated a portion of the series’ audience. Personally, though, I’m not sweating the details at this stage. The fights are still fun, the tone is still dumb, and the story is moving at a faster-than-average clip. That narrative speed may be pushing us toward the threshold of Big Reveals, or it might blow past the governments and cults without a reason for their appearance. Either way, GoH is the kind of show that doesn’t need to justify its detours – just its developments. And boy, were there a ton of the latter in this episode.
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Gunslinger Girl – 5 [Promessa (Promise)] – Throwback Thursday
Another week, another episode of Gunslinger Girl, and another new cast member is introduced. This week we get another Brother/Sister pair, a deeper look into the Agency and just a bit of tragedy. So without further ado, lets dive in!
Starting off I want to explain where I am at with Gunslinger Girl. Because you see, I think I’ve had the wrong idea of what exactly this show is. After the first episode I was expecting a crime thriller of some kind, a character driven pew pew shootemup with morally questionable children. And so as we worked through these last 4 episodes I ended each one thinking “Great, when does the plot start?”. As many of you have told me, this was clearly a mistake. That isn’t what Gunslinger Girl is about, shooting guns is just a consequence of the setting. Rather Gunslinger Girl is about… well, the girls and those watching over them. About their relationships and how they interact with each other. I want to say its almost episodic in nature, but who knows where it will go. As for me, I’m just along for the ride now.
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Deca-Dence – 03 [Steering]
Another week, another clean hit at bat. Deca-Dence is fast becoming the MVP of the summer season and for good reason. Every new episode connects multiple threads the previous one left hanging, imparts the setting with more painstakingly created detail while disregarding any expectations and doubling down on the established status quo. It does all that as it builds upon the world we know and gives us a whole lot more to ponder about till next week.
This is smart, intellectually challenging storytelling which is unconcerned with alienating mainstream viewers for the sake of the story it wants to tell and I can’t ask for more.
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OreGairu 3 – 02 [That Key Was Never Handled Until Today]
There are shows that remind you of specific phases of your life. Either they resonate with you because of the time you watch – like I first watched Tatami Galaxy when I was in uni just like the characters are, or Monogatari series when I was at the time didn’t really know what to do with my life – so Monogatari series was kind of therapy for me; or the shows remind you of specific places where you watched it – like I rewatched Eccentric Family when I was in Kyoto, thus I experienced the settings on a whole new level of appreciation (it’s magical). OreGairu 2 is another example of this. I watched it when it was airing back in 2015 when I was in Cannes. And throughout the midst of movie frenzy and hours waiting in lines, I still squeezed some time to follow it and boy I felt it. I felt the personal struggles Hachiman and the girls have. I felt the same feeling of Hachiman trying to fix things up by sacrificing himself, doesn’t realizing the fact that he hurts the ones who care deeply for him by doing that.
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Fire Force S2 – 03 [New Flashpoint]
New characters! Who doesn’t love new characters – and a high school student as well! Actually, how old is the rest of the 8th supposed to be? 20s, right? Anyways, let’s meet our newest antihero and her short lived gang!
Great Pretender – 07-08 [Singapore Sky]
This was a tale of two episodes for me. Number 7 was an excellent stage-setter for both the upcoming con on the Ibrahim brothers and Abby’s deteriorating psychology; number 8 was a jumble of confused dialogue and crossed wires. On the one hand, it’s awesome that I didn’t find significant fault with this series until its eighth installment (and that fault is subjective to begin with). On the other, I’d have loved for the show to fly high for its entire run, especially since one of summer’s other top prospects, Japan Sinks, just pooped its pants in spectacular fashion. It’s not like Great Pretender’s flirtation with mediocrity puts it in the same league, but a spotless track record would have been neat. But what made episode 8 so spotty? For that matter, what made number 7 so good? Let’s get into it.