State of the Season – Spring 2020

by SuperWooper, posted in State of the Season

Amun: Welcome to this lost spring of anime 2020. I hope everyone is staying safe and watching this B-team of a season. While we didn’t get the heavy hitters of Yahari Season 3 or Re:Zero, there are still some bright spots – Kaguya-sama S2 and the surprise newcomer isekai: Hamefura. Despite my early criticisms, Tower of God has gained some traction – fellow writers seem fairly positive on Yesterday wo Utatte. So this season isn’t a complete wash! We have turtles, villainesses, crows, books, and zodiac animals! Join us humble Star Crossed writers as we take a look at the good, the bad, and the funny of Spring 2020 anime. (But seriously, Hamefura is really good, go watch it).

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

Amun: I’m liking Tower of God quite a bit. Feels like every episode fleshes out the world, develops the characters, and pulls you deeper into the tower. Animation is hit or miss, but the story’s moving along nicely now. Little concerned about character creep, but that’s a minor gripe.

Mario: I’m going with Yesterday wo Utatte. Sure, there are other two shows that are equally impressive (Kaguya-sama 2 and the other one down the list), but Yesterday wo Utatte keeps surprising me every week. 4-way star-crossed romance isn’t normally my thing, but so far the show hasn’t put any wrong step, and the characterization for the main cast is off the chart. There’s a lot of details put into their mannerism, figure of speech and their movements. Hopefully the main relationship doesn’t get too convoluted for the sake of drama.

Lenlo: I’m not actually watching much this season. The only non-cancelled seasonal I still keep up with is Kaguya, and BNA I suppose, but I haven’t been enjoying that. Regardless, it is a decent enough rom-com, and I hope that we will actually get to the point where they make some actual progress in a relationship. Rom-coms are only good if you actually include the romance.

Armitage: I love grounded character dramas more than any other genre in anime. Though, such shows have gotten ever so rare these days. That’s why, to see Yesterday wo Utatte do what it does week-in, week-out gives me hope that more such series can be produced down the line. It’s a mature show which cares for its characters and that, in turn, instills a sense of sincerity to the story it’s telling. More importantly, even if it doesn’t stick the landing by the end of its 18-episode run, it might end up paving the way for the adaptations of the many other stellar seinen manga just begging for an anime.

Wooper: Kakushigoto. The show’s absurd flavor of comedy is nicely balanced by its familial themes, and that combination makes it a pleasant weekly watch. Its sixth episode is what really sold me on the series, though, telling one connected story instead of splitting itself into chapters, and really getting to the heart of Goto’s relationship with his work. I’d say it’s the show that has improved the most since its premiere.

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Tower of God – 7 [Lunch and Tag]

by Lenlo, posted in Tower of God

This was a wild week for Tower of God. From cut content to changed scenes to crazy pacing, we are moving quick. So without further ado let’s jump in and talk Shinsu, Jahad and Best Girls!

Starting off, the pacing. Jesus Christ the pacing. I said from the beginning that the narrative would be tough if they tried for the whole first season. 78 chapters in 13 episodes is a ridiculous pace, and it looks like Tower of God is trying to meet that. As this week we burn through the position classes, cut entire magic system explanations and condense/change character moments. I’m sure many of the anime-only readers are noticing it to. After all, do we know what a Lighthouse is yet, or how it works beyond being a position? What about the floating cubes, why they use needles instead of swords or the entirety of Shinsu? I would be really interested to get an anime-only perspective on this. Because for me, at this point, I don’t see how you could be anything other than confused. At least they explained the Princesses well.

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Princess Tutu – 15/16 – Throwback Thursday

by Lenlo, posted in Princess Tutu, Throwback Thursday

Another week, another double feature of Princess Tutu! This week see’s the Raven start to make some moves, Fakir get ostracized and Mytho struggle internally. Does any of it work? Lets dive in and find out!

To start, these two episodes are perhaps the most disappointed I have been in Princess Tutu since we started. Everything about these two, or arguably 4, episodes were rough. The pacing is off, the content is either to rushed or to slow, and its rather repetitive. No doubt this is all tied back into how this 2nd season was originally aired. Rather than 13 full length episodes, it aired as 26 half-length episodes, and were cut up accordingly. This meant though that each half length episode required its own beginning, middle and end. So when you stitch the half length episodes together, you get this weird mess where it starts and ends twice. Compared to the mostly phenomenal pacing of the first cour, it’s a complete let down. I can only hope that Princess Tutu finds its dancing legs again soon, or else this 2nd cour will fall short.

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[Manga Musings on Mondays] Nijigahara Holograph – Review

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

 

Created by: Inio Asano

Chapters: 12

 

What do I see here? It’s another M in the Day’s column of the calendar. And you all know what that means, don’t you? Uh-ha! It’s time for another manga review!

This week around we will be talking about quite possibly my favorite mangaka of all time, Inio Asano and his nearly impenetrable puzzle-box of a manga, ironically titled Nijigahara (Rainbow-Field) Holograph. Let’s break it down.

 

THE PREMISE:
A set of interconnected stories spanning 10 years in the lives of people who inhabit a city and have nothing in common apart from knowing a girl who sits by the Nijigahara embankment and says that a monster will come and bring an end to the world as we know it.

 

       

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YOU and ME and HER: A Love Story Visual Novel Review – 80/100

by AidanAK47, posted in Game Reviews, Reviews by AidanAK47

I will preface this review with the following. Much like Subahibi the less you know going into this, the better. In this review I will have a spoiler section that I will clearly label and that section will contain spoilers for this game and one other. The other game I am referring too will be openly apparent but despite it being a spoiler section I will try to keep things vague regardless. So if you don’t want to be spoiled then do not read past the obvious warning but also I strongly say that if you hold any interest in this game then it is best to experience it without foresight. The game will be released on Steam on May 25 at time of writing but is currently available on the JAST USA store fully uncensored. I will say that it does hold some content that could rub people the wrong way but if you are a veteran of VNs or even completed Subahibi then you are more than capable of getting through it. This is a fairly liner visual novel that took me 11 hours to complete and it is strongly recommended to do three playthroughs.
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Arte – 06 [Trade Guild]

by Armitage, posted in Arte, Currently Watching:

Hello and welcome to the review of another episode of Arte, the Soccer Ace. The halfway point in the story of Arte has finally arrived and this week, she learns to paint fancy graffiti and play 16th-century Italian football. Let’s talk about it.

A member of Leo-san’s trade guild passes away and he takes Arte along for the funeral. All the other artists assembled there are surprised or angered to see a woman present among them. Some are very vocal in the display of their dislike towards Arte while others just avoid getting involved and ignore her altogether. The masters of the guild are concerned that Arte’s presence would become a point of conflict amongst the guild members and decide to give her a test to prove her mettle as a competent apprentice.

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Tower of God – 6 [Position Selection]

by Lenlo, posted in Tower of God

Welcome all to the halfway point of the season for Tower of God! We finally get a bit of downtime here, as Bam recovers and we enter a… training arc? Exam arc? Who really knows, point is, its time to learn us some stuff! Lets dive in.

First up, lets talk adaptation and how Tower of God is doing production wise. Because for all that I enjoyed this week, there were a few cracks, as we adapted 7 full chapters. 7 chapters in a single episode. And the pacing is only going to get worse if we try to fit in all of season 1. Now I am sure this isn’t much of an issue for Anime-Only viewers. Maybe the episodes feel a bit fast, but nothing more. For those that know the source though, we can see just how much is being skipped or condensed. Credit where its due, they aren’t doing a horrible job. If they are going to cut things, they are mostly choosing well. But there are still scenes I wish we could have seen we didn’t. All because someone decided to fit 78 chapters into a single cour of anime.

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Princess Tutu – 13/14 – Throwback Thursday

by Lenlo, posted in Princess Tutu, Throwback Thursday

Welcome all to the end of the first season of Princess Tutu and the start of the second! A lot happened this week. Fakir confronted his fears, Kraehe competed for Mytho’s heart and Tutu made her feelings known. The only question is: Was it any good? The answer is yes, it was very good, and I really want to talk about it. So lets dive in!

Right off the bat we have episode 13, Swan Lake, the finale of Princess Tutu’s first season. And I have to say, I loved it. Princess Tutu managed to not necessarily resolve, but bring all of its character arcs to a head at once. Mytho made his own decision, choosing both Tutu and to face his emotions. Fakir faced his fears, fought through them, and in the end broke the sword he once broke Mytho’s heart with. Ahiru managed to make her feelings known and come to terms that she and Tutu are one and the same. Even Edel got a culminating arc, as she was responsible for saving them all in the end. It really impressed me how Princess Tutu managed to bring all of this together without any character feeling neglected. So strap in because we have a lot to talk about after the break.

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Kaguya-sama S2 – 03-04

by SuperWooper, posted in Finished Series: Comedy, Kaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai

In opting to cover three series this spring, it seems my eyes were bigger than my stomach. The whole self-quarantine thing increases free time, but it also decreases motivation, at least in my case. In order to get back in the saddle, I’m going to start with some low-hanging fruit and make a list post, ranking the six segments in these two Kaguya-sama episodes from worst to best. It’s very possible that my ordering is just the inverse of the conventional one (since I’m indifferent to, or simply dislike, the parts of the show for which others go gaga). If you’re prepared for Wooper’s Kaguya-sama Catch-up Session, hit the jump and get to readin’.

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