Chihayafuru Season 3 Review – 82/100

by SuperWooper, posted in Anime Reviews, Chihayafuru, Finished Series: Sports, Reviews by SuperWooper

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.

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Princess Tutu – 1/2 – Throwback Thursday

by Lenlo, posted in Princess Tutu, Throwback Thursday

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.

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Chihayafuru S3 – 24 [When Winds Send Waves Crashing]

by SuperWooper, posted in Chihayafuru, Finished Series: Sports

Now *that’s* how you use a callback to finish an anime season. As a long-running series, Chihayafuru has both the history and the cast of characters necessary to echo itself in a satisfying way, and the conclusion of this episode is proof. Better yet, it involved all three main characters in the process, repeating Taichi’s past encouragement to Chihaya through Arata in the present. Even when those three are far apart, even when their minds are distracted and their hearts are broken, there’s something about the time they shared as children that keeps them connected. It’s no coincidence that the OP for this third season opened with an image of them as grade schoolers, or that both boys flash back to their elementary days once every few episodes. This finale worked to connect them in a more present sense as well (despite their physical separation), but I have to say that Arata’s text message mirroring Taichi’s faith in his old rival put a beautiful bow on this surprisingly-structured episode.

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Winter 2020 Summary: Week 12

by SuperMario, posted in Weekly Summary

Mario: Only one week left before the end of this season. We got to the finish line of a couple shows this week with Eizouken in particular ending on high note. With the world currently in total lockdown I do feel like we are in some sort of post-apocalyptic world in anime where humanity has declined. It might sound depressing but hey, at least it’s an once-in-lifetime experience, right? Stay safe, by which I mean stay home and do nothing, to save the world.

Somali to Mori no Kamisama – 11

Mario: Somali and Golem reach their most dangerous journey so far, with the “monsters” hunt down the human child and Golem is on self-destructed mode in order to save Somali, but this higher the conflict, sadly the more clumsy the show gets. There are 2 main messages the show wants to transfer across in this hunt, First, the human race brought it all to themselves since their racist behavior is the main reason other races turn against them, and second, humans taste delicious and these two thoughts don’t really mesh well with each other. Imagine the flow of dialogues moves from “It’s all human fault” in one moment, followed by “I will have her brain”, and you get the idea. The whole ambush plan has a lot of flaws as well, so you need to turn off your logical sense and just roll with it. Sure, the stake is higher than ever but sadly I am already tuned out by what was happening onscreen.

Oshi ga Budokan – 11

Wooper: Wow, that episode really just ended with a series of tweets set to a warm, uplifting string accompaniment. Is there any more appropriately vapid choice that a show about idol culture could have made to conclude its penultimate episode? Seriously though, this whole episode was a miss for me, even if you set aside the silliness of its final minutes. The series’ typically well-animated performance scenes were nowhere to be found here, with a series of panning stills replacing their practice sessions, and a miniature clip show intruding on their weekly concert. Movement was pretty limited in general, actually, except when Eripiyo was screeching about her love for Maina. Eri’s VA was at her least tolerable this week, delivering throat-shredding screams about how her favorite idol is the cutest in the universe. You know what tone of voice makes a convincing case for cuteness? Literally any intonation except that one. Even when a female coworker came over to her place to watch ChamJam’s two second TV appearance, Eripiyo couldn’t settle down. At least she’s consistent, though – that’s more than I can say for Oshi ga Budokan itself.

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Magia Record – 10-12

by SuperMario, posted in Currently Watching:, Magia Record: Puella Magi Madoka Magica

Welcome back to the mega post of Magia Record. After the stellar episode that was episode 9, the following three have been… unremarkable to me. There are some neat individual moments, mostly due to how well the direction is, but as a whole Magia Record introduces too many characters that it’s hard to keep up at times, while at the same times, the central mystery regarding finding Ui still yet to make any significant progress. With this amount of unresolved mysteries left, I really am in doubt that the finale next week is going to cover them all. That would mean with this pacing there’s a chance that there will be a second cour to wrap things up, but if that’s the case I’m not too interested to follow its second half.

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Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken! – 12 [Shibahama UFO Wars]

by Lenlo, posted in Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!

This is it ladies and gentleman, the finale to Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken, my anime of the season. I was curious how our leads would respond to such a setback and Eizouken did not disappoint. So sit back, relax and let’s talk about anime!

Now there was a lot worth talking about this week, but I want to start with the short itself. While it wasn’t perfect, I really loved both the short and how it was presented. I loved how unlike the previous animations, which were large events with an audience, this one was incredibly personal. With our leads watching it alone in Asakusa’s apartment, a private viewing just for them. Meanwhile across the city everyone who bought their DVDs are doing the same. It simultaneously felt small and personal, but community driven, like a private event for the entire city. And the way it was setup, starting with the discs going in, made it feel like I was watching it with them. Like 4 friends watching what they made together, since we went on this journey with them over 12 episodes and 3 months. It fantastic.

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Dorohedoro – 11 [See You at the Food Stall]

by SuperWooper, posted in Dorohedoro, Finished Series: Mystery/Suspense

This episode wasted no time in picking up where the previous one left off, and right away we were hit over the head with a connection I should have made last time. The brawl at the town gate positioned Shin against Kasukabe, the doctor who saved his life during his time in Hole. You’d think that a former patient ripping off his savior’s arm with a hammer would leave a bigger impression, but sometimes Dorohedoro is in too big a hurry to emphasize those sorts of crossed paths. Not this week, though, as Shin’s easygoing nature triumphed over his bloodthirst, and we got a rare moment of cooperation between him and the gang from Hole (including Thirteen, who must be regretting his involvement by this point). For all of this show’s violence and grotesquerie, the scenes where even mafia cleaners and occultic professors manage to find common ground are among the best moments on offer.

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Runway de Waratte – 11 [The Promise]

by Lenlo, posted in Runway de Waratte

This was a very surprising week of Runway de Waratte. I fully expected it to be a disappointment, to somehow screw up its grand finale, for Ikuto to ruin it… and none of that happened. It was surprisingly good. Not flawless, but probably the best episode of the show yet. Why? Well let’s jump in and find out.

Now, before I get all sappy and praise Runway, I want to talk about what it could do better. Specifically I want to talk about the animation of this week’s episode. Because while what we got is fine, I can’t help but think it could have been amazing. Runway had a huge opportunity this week with Chiyuki’s dress changes and walks to really show off its source material and subject. It could have shown us the dress changes in real time, animating the clothes being removed and add. We could have seen the difference in how Chiyuki walks by how its animated, rather than just getting upper-body shots. Instead though, we just the same presentation as we have for any other scene in the anime. Instead of being an event for the series… it was just another episode. And while its a good episode, ultimately, I am a little disappointed.

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Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken! – 11 [Each Other’s Existence!]

by Lenlo, posted in Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!

Continuing my streak of “better late than never” this week, we have Keep Your Hands off Eizouken! Though this time with backstory, some dancing and more great Kanamori scenes. Lets dive in! And I promise, no more late ones, I should have things sorted now.

Starting off, this was a pretty straightforward week for Eizouken. Focusing in on a specific theme and tackling it from a variety of angles. However while the theme itself might not be particularly complicated, I think Eizouken did a great job portraying it. The idea of “Coexistence” was tackled from a variety of angles, from more professional ones in their club to the person in Asakusa’s flashback. Each one managing to both explore the characters while still building to a final peak. I will admit, at the beginning of the episode I wasn’t to enthused. I thought it was going to be another sort of montage filler episode. Which while it would still contain Eizouken’s usual quality, wouldn’t be particularly memorable. As the episode went on though and it revealed more and more of the primary thread, I came to love it. So now, let’s get to the details, yeah?

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Chihayafuru S3 – 23 [Like a Boatsman Adrift]

by SuperWooper, posted in Chihayafuru, Finished Series: Sports

Last week’s introduction of the Taichi Cup had me excited for this episode. Who wouldn’t want to spectate a free-for-all tournament where Meijin hopefuls like Harada-sensei could clash with Class C challengers? Retro was in attendance, as well, which the show could have used to follow up his recent promotion to club president. The variety of participants might have created some fun matchups, maybe an upset or two – if the show had treated it as anything more than a distraction. When the Taichi Cup’s screen time ended just six minutes after it began, I was disappointed at the wasted potential that it represented. But as the episode ran on and it became clear where we were headed, I understood the reason for its brevity. Chihayafuru has historically placed climactic moments in its penultimate episodes, and used its season finales to cool down in their wake. And boy, did this one feature the mother of all climaxes.

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