Arte – 04 [Courtesan]

by Armitage, posted in Arte, Currently Watching:

Welcome to another week of ‘Arte learns life-lessons while painting as a side business’. This week, we are reunited with the lovely Courtesan-san from back in episode 2, with whom Arte forms an unlikely friendship. Let’s break it all down.

Last week, we saw Arte developing feelings of romantic affection towards a man for the first time in her life, which made her feel a kind of pain she had been unfamiliar to all her life. She couldn’t understand her own emotions and this week too, she seems to be having a hard time dealing with them. Whenever Leo-san is anywhere near her or their bodies so much as brush up against each other, Arte finds herself stiffening up and overcome with an inability to process anything around her. Though, she still cherishes the moments when Leo-san appreciates her efforts in any way. She learns about a new method to improve the quality of the bread from the local baker and when Leo-san compliments her in his usual droll manner, it brings her real happiness, making her feel like the efforts she put in were worth it.
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Princess Tutu – 9/10 – Throwback Thursday

by Lenlo, posted in Princess Tutu, Throwback Thursday

Hello once again to week 5 of Throwback Thursday with Princess Tutu! I hope everyone is doing well, what with all this Corona Virus business floating around. I’d like to say if the world has you down, a cheerful little magical girl show could fix that. But what Princess Tutu covers this week, focusing in on Fakir and Rue, doesn’t really fit that bill. Still, thanks for reading, and lets jump right in!

Now, I want to talk about the structure of these two episodes, because we are doing something different this week. Instead of going through each episode independently, instead I want to focus on Fakir and Rue. Deep diving into them, who they are, where they where, etc. Because my initial impressions of these episodes were… not necessarily filler, but hardly plot focused. Very little in regards to the greater plot was really advanced. Instead Princess Tutu focused in on these two, for better or worse. I say that because some segments were fantastic, Fakir and Rue getting some growth is well deserved at this point. But there were also some rather dull or outright annoying segments such as the extended marriage jokes. And even if some of these elements tied back in at the end, it made for a less enjoyable experience. So with that done, lets talk about Rue!

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Tower of God – 4 [The Green April]

by Lenlo, posted in Tower of God

Come one, come all, to one of the few shows unaffected my Miss Rona, Tower of God! It’s nice to be covering a show that’s already mostly, if not completely, done. Gives me a sense of security in these oh so trying times. So without further ado, lets jump into it shall we?

Now I always start off talking about an episodes production, but Tower of God actually earned it this week. Everything from the animation to the music was impressive, really standing out from prior episodes. Of course I can nitpick small things, like Hatz sword having almost no weight. Or Lauroe being rather… floaty during the latter half of his scene. But those would be just that, nitpicks. Shibisu was incredibly expressive this week, with both full body and facial expression that were to die for. Telecom Animation have dialed in on who the comic relief character is and committed to him, full stop. And none of that is meant to downplay Takuya Eguchi’s vocal performance either, so lovably stupid. Meanwhile Anaak’s weapon and the sheer volume of stretching limbs and such were great. I’ve criticized Tower of God for this before, but credit where it’s due, the animation worked wonders.

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Yesterday wo Utatte – 03 [What Is Love?]

by SuperWooper, posted in Finished Series: Romance, Yesterday wo Utatte

If Rikuo and Shinako were the main characters of episodes 1 and 2, respectively, then it’s only right that Haru got her turn with episode 3. I’d say this installment was the most laser focused so far, with Crow Girl being present in nearly every scene. Only the Rikuo and Shinako ‘sick with a cold’ bits distracted from Haru’s story this week, and they still fed into her failed movie date later in the episode. Honestly, those back-to-back colds gave me the impression that distant chapters were combined in order to achieve this timeline, but maybe late 90s manga just leaned on illness for everything. Either way, the show pulled it off thanks to its measured, dialogic storytelling – in Yesterday wo Utatte, everything falls into place if you put the characters’ conversations at the front of your mind.

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Spring 2020 Summary: Week 3

by SuperMario, posted in Weekly Summary

Mario: This recent week was rough. We all expected this to happen, but still hearing shows after shows get postponed is disheartening. It’s to the point I’m hesitant to drop shows now because I don’t think I have enough options anymore. It might be a good chance to catch up with the old stuff, I myself have been picking up Bookworm isekai again so expect it to be covered here starting next week. We have nearly a dozen shows to talk about this week (thanks to Amun for contributing half of them), so let’s run them down:

Appare-Ranman! – 02

Mario: Another show that is affected by the COVID-19 and it’s a shame because the first two episodes so far have failed to catch my attention. Heck, we don’t even see much of car racing which is its central premise. My biggest issue with the show so far is the characters, which I find bland, uninteresting and filled with bad dialogues. Even the new girl is there because the show wanted to bring up the “girl can’t race” angle, and in the season where Arte is also airing I find it to be on the face. Appare lacks the emotional investment to any human around him that I find him rather one-noted instead of interesting. In addition, I still believe that the premiere is a waste as they could just start off with this one and we won’t really miss out much.

Hachi Nan – 03 

Amun: Just because this show was derided so hard by my colleagues, I’m going to write about it every week.  Hey, to be fair, this has actually turned into a halfway decent isekai. Now, it’s a little unsporting that two other above average isekais (Bookworm and Hamefura) are also in this season – but Hachi Nan is really a decent, run-of-the-mill, escapist isekai.  I think they’ve handled the plot at a good pace – sure, there are some contrived situations, but this is to be expected in backstories. I thought the situational irony landed well this episode, with misunderstood assumptions getting worked out in the end. This is very similar to Didn’t I Say To Make My Abilities Average in the Next Life?!, which aired a few seasons ago – not going to make anyone’s top anime lists, but enjoyable while it lasts.

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[Manga Musings on Mondays] A Distant Neighborhood – Review

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

    Created by: Jiro Taniguchi

    Chapters: 15

     

    Hello and welcome to Manga Musings’ Week 2! This time around, I look back at another series which is a favorite of mine but is not as popular among modern manga fans, Jiro Taniguchi’s opus, Haruka na Machi e or A Distant Neighborhood. Let’s dive in:

     

    THE PREMISE:

    48-year-old Hiroshi Nakahara is mysteriously transported to his 14-year-old-self back when he was in high-school, with the memories of the life he’s lived still intact. He slowly comes to terms with being out-of-time and out-of-place and even starts enjoying being given an opportunity to relive his life once again, only to realize that his actions have consequences on the future in ways beyond his control.

     

         

     
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Kaguya-sama S2 – 02

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

Kaguya-sama’s second season is off to a good start after two episodes, but of all the positive signs we’ve gotten thus far, my favorite is that Masayuki Suzuki returned to sing the OP. The man’s voice has a magical quality to it, to the point that even a brassy opening theme like “Daddy! Daddy! Do!” sounds as smooth as silk when he’s on the track. Suzuki is known as the King of Love Songs in Japan, so when each episode of Kaguya-sama opens with his voice, it’s a reminder that underneath all its exaggerated antics, the show has a romantic heart. That’s a reminder I sorely needed this week, since a lot of this episode’s caricaturish behavior rustled my jimmies (I’ll try to dedicate no more than a paragraph to explaining why). On the whole, though, I’m very glad that the show is back, and looking as fresh as ever – hopefully it survives the current wave of TV anime delays and finishes in June as scheduled.

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Arte – 03 [First Job]

by Armitage, posted in Arte, Currently Watching:

 

Hello, everyone! Welcome to the third installment in the story of our favorite noble-turned-apprentice. This week, Arte learns about the warm joys and strange sorrows of first love, gets her first opportunity to draw professionally and throws her hat in for the seasonal Best Boy race! Let’s jump in.

Leo-san asks Arte to come along with him to the carnival but only after she has changed into an adorable Peter Pan cosplay costume. There they meet up with a courtesan – a high-class prostitute – who is somehow able to make the normally ogre-like and demonic Leo-san smile and laugh like he was having the time of his life. Seeing her looking pretty as a picture and smelling all nice, Arte can’t help but fight the feeling which takes over her heart; a feeling of envious approbation.

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Kakushigoto – 03 [Makeshift Circus/ The True State of Manga and Muscles]

by SuperMario, posted in Currently Watching:, Kakushigoto

The third episode of Kakushigoto leaves me a bit indifferent. This week, Kakushigoto presses hard on its “gags” nature and while that works well in his previous anime adaptations, I feel these skits are a bit random in Kakushigoto. Structure-wise, the show bookends bits of the present day (with more context each time) to its “flashback” that really is our true timeline. So what do we learn in this flashforward this week? That the house the 18-yo Hime visits is their old house before they moved to Nakameguro and that Gotou layouted their new house exactly like this old house. The fact that the house in Nakameguro is on sale now, and with Gotou’s still absent in the flashforward could mean something sad is waiting around the corner. 

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