I love yokai shows. Almost every season, sandwiched between your generic isekai and the high school drama, you’ll find some spooky yokai and poor humans who have to navigate the two worlds. This season, In/Spectre filled that niche, as something of a cross between Bakemonogatari and Natsume’s Book of Friends.
(I’m also part of the movement to make 50 the new average score, not 70.)
In late December of last year, I labeled Dorohedoro one of my most anticipated series of winter 2020. Honestly, that was a poser move. I’m not a manga reader, so my high expectations were based largely on secondhand praise, plus the potential for bloody irreverence promised by the PV and synopsis. There was one element of the show’s production, though, that I was confident would give it a unique appeal: the involvement of Shinji Kimura, background artist for such films as My Neighbor Totoro and Akira. He’s done plenty of great work as an art director, too, which was his role on this project. Sure enough, Dorohedoro’s grimy cityscapes and ramshackle interiors were uncommonly polished for a TV production – but the show had much more going for it than detailed backgrounds. A potpourri of violence, mystery, and a strangely loveable cast, Dorohedoro proved itself as one of this season’s strongest offerings, despite its task of adapting an unadaptable story.
And so Magia Record ends – at least for now since the second season is confirmed – on a sad note. Not only am I disappointed (but not too surprised) about how unresolved everything is, but also this finale does a sloppy job to expand the big reveal last week. So we learned last week about the Doppel as a way to prevent Magical Girls from becoming a Witch, but this week Doppel serves as a weapon to boost the girls’ attack power and suddenly our girls can control the ability at will (Yachiyo with her casual remark: “oh by the way, I know how to use Doppel as well” – Hello, we are not in Yugioh universe). Yachiyo also serves as another source of disappointment, as the way she reacts is pretty inconsistent (“I don’t consider you girls as friends” in the previous episode and then “I decide to disband the team” now – what “team” exactly?). Her flashback is likewise inconsistent as well. Her wish is “to survive”, but what does it have any connection to her being a leader of an idol group?
We came tantalizingly close to understanding the truth of Caiman’s identity in this episode, but in the end, Dorohedoro’s tendency to complicate itself prevailed. Not that I’m complaining – this was a strong ending, assuming that a second season will emerge some day to continue the story. It resolved some mysteries and created much bigger ones, and convincingly reconciled two friends after brutally pitting them against each other. The latter of those accomplishments was important, as without Caiman and Nikaido’s pinky promise towards the end, this finale would have felt overstuffed with flashbacks, dreams, and clues. Nevertheless, I enjoyed all of those hints at the show’s bigger picture, and I’m going to spend the bulk of this post unpacking them, since I can use tomorrow’s series review to discuss everything else.
Here we are at the back half of In/Spectre – the vaunted Steel Lady Nanase Arc. Even a cursory glance at the show’s artwork would reveal how central our faceless (but boobiful) idol is to this show. Is it worth the majority of the season though? Let’s find out!
Continue reading “In/Spectre – 09-12 [Steel Lady Nanase Arc]”
It’s hard to deny, this was a pretty good season for anime. From my personal favorites of Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken! and Dorohedoro to returning series like Haikyuu and My Hero Academia. Standing out amidst this crowd of new and returning anime was going to be difficult. With an acclaimed Manga at your back and a decent amount of fanfair though, you would think a series might have a chance. Sadly, that is not the case for Runway de Waratte. Even going so far as to say the odds were stacked against it from the start doesn’t really explain the trainwreck that is series. So what happened? Was it that this was only Studio Ezo’la’s third production? It probably isn’t Director Nobuyoshi Nagayama’s inexperience, this isn’t his first rodeo. Or does it go deeper, all the way to the source material? Let’s dive in and find out, shall we?
And fair warning, this will contain minor spoilers for Runway de Waratte!
Welcome all to the finale of Runway de Waratte! This week we see Ayano Toh’s show, find out the winner of the event and once more get to watch pretty girls cry. So if that’s your idea of a good time, lets jump right in.
Right off the bat, I have to come out and say it, I found this finale to be pretty “meh”. Compared to last week, Toh’s show just lacked any sort of real impact. It was presented in an almost matter of fact nature, compared to Kokoro or Ikuto’s more emotional ones. Runway tried to shock us with Toh’s formatting, but I don’t think it really works. Sending out 2 models at a time, or starting with a t-shirt, might have worked had it been the opening of the show. But after Ikuto’s performance of closing with such a simple outfit, or Kokoro’s incredibly emotional show, Toh’s feels like a footnote. It’s like last week was our finale, and this was more of an epilogue tying up loose ends. I just found it dull, all the while one of the worst music choices of the show played over it.
Continue reading “Runway de Waratte – 12 [This Is My Story]”
It’s not often an adaptation suits a Director as perfectly as Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken suits Masaki Yuasa. Of course you have works like Gen Urobuchi’s Puella Magi Madoka Magica or Satoshi Kon’s Paranoia Agent. Yet those works were originals, dreamed and created from the ground up by the directors for the anime. Yet here we have someone else’s manga, their work, fitting together perfectly with a renowned industry veteran. Everything from the narrative to the visual aesthetic of the series seem tailor made for him. The highly detailed backgrounds and setting to the rough character designs. The subject material and focus on animation itself to Yuasa’s own life experience in the industry. It’s an aligning of the stars that oh so rarely happens, yet when it does we get something amazing. And that’s what we got this season with Eizouken. Let’s dive in.
Back in October of last year, I wondered whether Chihayafuru’s foundation of unceasing karuta matchups and unrequited love would have lost its luster by the third season’s end. Now that we’ve reached that point, I have to say that the series approached that limit several times over these last 24 episodes. When it first reappeared on screen after a six year hiatus, I was taken aback by its consistency, but small issues cropped up as the story ran its course (more on those in a bit). These problems were cause for reflection – was the 2019 incarnation of this show really that different, or had my expectations changed? After some thought, I arrived at an answer: the show was, in fact, different, but it still met my primary expectation. Despite some stumbles in its third season, Chihayafuru’s continued success aligns with my core belief about narrative fiction: character is king.
Welcome one and all to another season of Throwback Thursday, now featuring Princess Tutu! This week we open on a rather straightforward magical girl plot, with dark implications and enough orchestral/theater implications to shake a stick at. Let’s dive in!
Right off the bat, I have to admit, Princess Tutu isn’t what I expected it to be. Starting this series, I was prepared for your stereotypical children’s magical girl show. Something along the lines of Precure. And while you can see a lot of Tutu’s influence in Precure, from designs and and all that, it actually feels like a much darker series. Because so far Princess Tutu has far more incommon with the old classics, things like the Nutcracker and Swan Lake, than it does the happy-go-lucky nature of modern magical girl shows. There are these sinister or tragic undertones throughout just these two episodes. And it’s this dichotomy between the childlike front on the tin vs its actual content that actually makes it rather engaging. Its similar in a way, though far less overt, to Puella Magi Madoka Magica. And considering I love that show, it’s a good sign.