Fog Hill of Five Elements – Animation Appreciation

by Lenlo, posted in Random Anime Recommendations, Special Articles

Hello everyone and welcome to a rather weird post about a Chinese series you probably haven’t heard of, Fog Hill of Five Elements. Now odds are you have no idea what I am talking about, and I don’t blame you. Not only are subs for this notoriously hard to find, but the ones you do find probably aren’t that good. A Graphic Design Service Subscription does not suffice in finding them. Part of that is just the difficulty of finding Chinese translators, since the Japanese translation scene is well established at this point, but another part is that no one really knows this show exists. And let me tell you, if for no other reason than the animation, the goal of this post is to change that. So lets dive in.

First up, a little about Fog Hill. As far as I can figure, Fog Hill was originally created by Hun Lin in this little 5 minute YouTube video here. Whether he made the whole thing, VA and music and all from scratch himself I have no idea. I don’t even know if Samsara Studio, the animation house behind Fog Hill, is his studio or just one he is working with. Since this is their first project and all the information is in Chinese, as an ignorant American I just don’t know. But what I do know is that 3 years later, in 2020, Fog Hill got a full 8 episode ONA season that is currently being released right now. Directed, Scripted, and Coordinated by Hun Lin, this is clearly a passion project. And even if I can’t understand the words, I can understand hype. And this? This animation is hype.

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State of the Season – Summer 2020

by SuperWooper, posted in State of the Season

Armitage: With the entire world slowly returning to order after being kicked in the shin and knocked around in 19 ways, it’s only fitting that we check-in to see that everyone is getting back to their normal lives. Now, since this is an anime blog, our normal is basically watching a crap-ton of anime every season! And even though this summer we got far fewer shows than ever, the dark horses delivered, the sleepers packed a punch and the heavy hitter(s) really knocked the living hell out of a recently married high-school girl wielding a wooden sword. cough cough

But of course, since we’re all different people, we’re bound to have different tastes! Did we too like that one show you feel guilty about watching every week or are most of us not fans of your favorite anime this season?

Read on to find out!

What show are you enjoying that you’re not reviewing?

Wooper: Though I give Houkago Teibou Nisshi shoutouts in our weekly summary posts, it isn’t getting the full blogging treatment, so it gets my vote. If you like cute girls, fishing, relaxing ambiance, or reaction faces, this show may be for you. If you like at least three of those four, this show is definitely for you. It’s one of the better high school club shows I’ve seen recently, and though it won’t go down as many viewers’ favorite anime of the year, it’ll make your Tuesdays a bit happier each week.

Amun: I’d normally say Re:Zero, but since it’s a given that most anime fans are watching that this season – Misfit of Demon King School. It’s so bad. It’s so bad that I’m not even sure I have the name right. But if you enjoyed the sage of technological One True Tatsuya a few seasons back – this kind of (over) power fantasy is right up your alley.

Lenlo: Fujiko Mine, Deca-Dence and Great Pretender.

Armitage: Re:Zero is back and great as ever! So, obviously I have to watch it because you can never have too much death and suffering in life. I am also watching God of Highschool week in, week out. It’s amazing how relaxing this show is for me. I just have to turn off my brain and just like that, half an hour has passed. Take that, lockdowns.

Mario: Deca-Dence and Great Pretender. Since we’re going to talk in detail about the former at the end of this post, I want to give a special mention to Great Pretender. It’s a show that if you think too deeply about some plot twist or plot development then all the pieces can fall apart (like the explosion that kills no one in the first case, yeah!), but its main appeal lies in how entertaining it is. From the fun and smart stories to the bouncing off between the cast to the drop dead gorgeous visual designs, it knows and embodies the “cool” factor. It also gives our cast some outstanding character development; Cynthia’s fierce bids in that auction wouldn’t be that rewarding without knowing her backstory and how she became who she is now. In other words, Great Pretender is cool as fuck.

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Fugou Keiji – 5 [If Money be not thy Servant, it will be thy Master]

by Lenlo, posted in Fugou Keiji: Balance: UNLIMITED

Let’s cut right to the chase, because this was a big week for Fugou Keiji. Not because of any great narrative events, though we are seeing the beginning of something greater. Rather because Fugou Keiji seems to have decided what it wants to be. Until now it has been struggling with an identity crisis. Is it a comedic and ridiculous romp, riffing on rich superheroes like Tony Start and Bruce Wayne? Or is it a serious detective story with a touch of the fantastical in Daisuke? This week Fugou Keiji seems to have decided on the latter. There was very little levity and the series seems to be setting up some rather serious and impactful arcs to come. Some jokes were still there of course, but almost all of them were worked into the story. Were tinged with something more serious. So with that in mind, lets talk detective stories.

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Re:Zero Starting Life in Another World 2 – 06 [The Maiden’s Gospel]

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

It’s been six episodes and Re:Zero has yet to have an episode that doesn’t go beyond industry standard episode length, on top of excluding the opening and ending just to have more content. I love that these episodes end when they want them to end and if it requires extra work then they are putting it in. Tappei Nagatsuki should be thanking his lucky stars that he has an animation team that cares this much about his work and with hope they might care to adapt the entire story. All the more considering how much current circumstances have affected the animation industry. Frankly, I think we should give this animation team a hand for pumping out another great episode..
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Gunslinger Girl – 8 [Il Principe del Regno Della Pasta (The Prince of the Pasta Kingdom)] – Throwback Thursday

by Lenlo, posted in Gunslinger Girl, Throwback Thursday

Another week another slightly late Throwback Thursday post of Gunslinger Girl! I really need to get my schedule figured out, but for now lets talk about child soldiers. This week we get another standalone episode, and for all the issues that brings it was an interesting look at the Brother Sister relationship. So without further ado, lets dive in!

Starting off, this was another weird week for Gunslinger Girl. Once again we are given a standalone episode that has absolutely nothing to with the greater terrorist plot. It could have slotted in anywhere in the story and done the exact same thing, it feels disjointed from the series primary plot. That said though, it was a really good episode. In fact I would go so far as to say that these one-off stories are Gunslinger Girl’s best episodes. The focus on the Brother/Sister relationship and look at its overall life cycle was great. I loved in particular how it started us with Henrietta. Showing us her concerns on the subject before switching over to Angelica, who is nearly at the end of her cybernetic lifespan. Its a good look into the final fate that awaits our cast, even if it doesn’t slot neatly into the overall story.

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The God of High School – 06 [fear/SIX]

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

The God of High School? More like The God of High Speed. This installment introduced so many new stories and characters that I’d need five hands to count them all. The unmasking of the religious cult from several weeks back has begun, plus we were treated to reveals of “The Six,” a group of elite martial artists, one of whom became integral to the plot merely by implication. And hey, we’re already moving on to the next phase of the GOH tournament, so we got to meet a bunch of the high schoolers from other Korean cities who will be taking part. Oh, it’s also a team tournament now. And the pointy-nosed announcer from the previous phase? He was blind. I say “was” because he’s dead, as is the green-haired tournament organizer with the scythe-wielding spirit fighter. They were both killed by the same guy, a fire user from the cult I mentioned previously, and –

Is this sounding like too much material for one episode yet?

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Summer 2020 Summary: Week 5

by SuperMario, posted in Weekly Summary

Mario: Like I said last week, with this thin season, it’s a good opportunity for me to check out some lost gems – one of those shows that are lost in the sea of forgotten anime. Click down to see what those two shows are. I want to pick up one more so if you have some recommendation you can shout out in the comments. Conditions apply: you can only recommend shows that aren’t considered as “classic”, or maybe better that you recommend the ones you enjoy that need more attention. The older the anime the better. Now, let’s run them down.

Houkago Teibou Nisshi 5-6

Wooper: Another week, another pair of Cute Girls Catching Cute Fish episodes (that’s CGCCF for short). The show has gotten a little louder since the introduction of Kotani-sensei, sponsor for the Breakwater Club, which wasn’t to my tastes. In addition to her duties as club advisor and school nurse, she’s an obnoxious drunk – hence the loudness – but even high volumes levels could ordinarily be forgiven. What’s unforgivable is her regular hijacking of the girls’ seafood snacks, which they catch and fry with their own blood, sweatdrops and tears! Add Natsumi’s regular teasing of Hina to the mix, and there were moments where these episodes grated on me, which isn’t what you want from a slice of life club show. Thankfully, we ended on a nice story where Hina heads out to catch some horse mackerel for her family’s dinner, and learns a few new things after Natsumi tags along. It’s always nice to see noisy anime characters prove their worth as main cast members.

Japan Sinks – 02-05

Mario: I know my fellow Lenlo already gave a full review on this and trashed it like crazy, but if you want a weekly tracking on how Japan Sinks stinks then this column is the perfect chance to do so. And after the first half, I am still pretty much on board with how things progress so far. The event that happens at the end of episode 2 is really a game changer, but that is not necessarily a bad thing. I did find the Shan city segment a bit overlong, and there’s this growing sense of something deeply wrong with this cult town, but I am not sure how the show will deal with it. The same growing sense of something wrong can be said for our characters as well, as Ayumu’s wound is open and no one seems to care. In addition, for a character that appears right at the beginning, Haruo doesn’t really add anything to the table. It remains to be seen how the second half of this will be.

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Lupin III The Woman Called Fujiko Mine – 3 [The Lady and the Samurai]

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

Welcome to episode 3 of The Woman Called Fujiko Mine! Apologies for the wait on this one. This is the only series I dont have a schedule for so I want to wait to write until I know what to write, if that makes sense. This week, just as I predicted this week we meet Ishikawa Goemon, get a fun train heist and just a liiiiitle bit of romance. Just a tad, I promise. So without further ado, lets dive in!

Starting off, lets talk Goemon, because this man is a complete and total Chuunibyou. The way he acts and over-dramatizes everything, taking it far stricter than the situation calls for, is fun. The way he cuts into the mountain, or does a dramatic flourish as he cuts a hole in the top of the train. He just amps everything up to 11, almost as if just to look cool. But what makes it work is that Goemon himself seems unaware of this. He takes it all incredibly seriously with a great degree of sincerity. And the best part is that unlike a vast majority of the Chuuni archetype, he actually has the skills to back it up. One could argue this disqualifies him from being a Chuuni at all, but for the sake of quick descriptions I think it still fits. Overall, he’s a fun character in this wacky series.

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Fire Force S2 5-6 [Corna/Secret Plan, Time to Choose]

by Amunchet, posted in Currently Watching:, Fire Force

Ensembles.  Everyone loves Ensembles!  When your main characters are feeling stale, bring back some likable side characters, amp up the enemy difficulty, make some convenient plan using all your powers combined – profit.  Oh, and did I mention, change up the scenery with a trip?  This is basically Fire Force’s plan for the rest of the season.

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