Magia Record – 09 [A World With Just Me]

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

Magia Record has been hit and miss so far, but I’m happy to say that the latest episode was pretty solid. In fact, it’s my second favorite episode from the show (the premiere still reigns). Magia  Record’s tackle on loneliness and the bond between this girl Sana and the Artificial Intelligence Ai are handled with nuance and its emotionally powerful. Considering how we barely know any of them prior to this episode, I can say the show did a pretty good job that I legitimately care about them as the credit rolls.

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Winter 2020 Summary: Week 9

by SuperMario, posted in Weekly Summary

Mario: It’s me and Wooper again contributing in this column for “less popular” shows this season. Many of them are falling apart as they wrap up, but that to be expected with any season. If we’re lucky, we have golden eggs but most of the time they are forgettable fluffs. Well, enough with metaphysical nonsense and let’s scroll down to see what this week has to offer.

RikeKoi – 10

Wooper: While watching this episode, I was surprised at its level of commitment to the characters’ academic presentations. We’ve only seen two Ikeda lab members pitch their research, which means we might spend the last two episodes watching the rest of the cast do the same. Before that, however, Himuro and Yukimura will have to work out the misunderstanding that threatens to drive a wedge between them (ruining not just their relationship, but their joint presentation). Yukimura giving a cortisol-lowering hug to Kanade just before her turn was an innocent gesture, but it’s a terrible betrayal in his partner’s mind. That plot is pretty stupid when you type it out, but I did pick up a hint of interest from Kanade, mostly based on her senpai’s unflapability. Girls do love confidence in men – could Himuro have detected something between the two that they’re both unaware of?

Somali to Mori no Kamisama – 08

Mario: I’ve come to realize that Somali the show fares much better when it focuses on the side characters instead of the main leads. The reason for that, I suppose, is that Somali and Golem’s chemistry is solid but has only one shade. By focusing on their relationship it becomes repetitive and gradually loses its impact. By examining other characters’ relationship towards the human race, or towards the person they love (like last week), the show draws out more context and dimensions to the central leads’ fondness for each other. This episode is entirely in flashback from a witch’s point of view, and that segment says so much about humanity’s frailness and skepticism when it comes to accepting other races. In addition to that, the witch’s world is gorgeously detailed and becomes my favorite setting out of this show. Somali’s looking good heading to the last stretch of its run.

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Dorohedoro – 08 [Welcome to Blue Night Land]

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

After last week’s grand slam, I was prepared for a more ordinary episode this time around. That’s pretty much what we received (by Dorohedoro’s standards, anyway), but the breakneck tempo that I complained of in mid-February returned here, forcing me to flex my neurons just to keep up with the story. Every major character barring Nikaido crossed a major speedbump in this episode, and they didn’t bother to hit the brakes first. Even without getting into the nitty gritty of the editing or direction, you can look at the four chapter titles placed throughout the episode’s run to see how many stories it was juggling. Since I’m such a big fan of Dorohedoro’s characters and setting, I wish the show would decrease its average scene count, and use the extra time to lengthen each of the ones that remain. There is an advantage to high-speed presentation, though – it creates hesitation in the mind of the viewer, which mirrors the confusion that Caiman must have experienced in the sorcerer’s realm this week.

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Runway de Waratte – 8 [The Designer’s Capacity]

by Lenlo, posted in Runway de Waratte

Another week, another dash of Runway de Waratte. However this week wasn’t actually that bad, as Ikuto is finally challenged, even if the pacing is a goddamn mess. So without further ado, lets jump into Runway!

Starting off, I want to talk about story structure for abit, because Runway failed miserably at it this week. You see, normally in a story you want to introduce a problem that challenges your character. One that forces them to grow, change and improve so as to tackle that problem. If you have an outside force, someone completely different, solve that problem then your lead character learns nothing. They don’t grow, they don’t change, they just exist and problems are solved for them. It leads to a terribly uncompelling narrative. Especially when you introduce said problem and then solve it in the same episode. No buildup, no challenge, no progression or rise and fall. Just “Here is a problem” and “Here is an easy solution”. Basically what I am trying to say diplomatically here is that Runway’s pacing this week was shit, and everyone knows it.

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Top 50 Anime of the 2010s

by SuperWooper, posted in Anime of the Decade

Aidan: A lot of things can happen in a decade, though two of those things appear not to be flying cars and self-tying shoes. Ten years is a long time and a lot of anime has been made. Just going by an average of 30 shows a season, in ten years that would mean 1200 anime series made. 360,000 minutes of entertainment, though don’t check my math on that. To consider the amount of work that has gone into the creation of so many shows is truly mind boggling and is worth my utmost respect. So late as we are to the party, we decided to make a list of the top fifty shows of the decade. Take note that this list was the product of all writers voting, so any complaints about what should be here or why something isn’t higher on the list can be reserved for the democratic process. This is mainly just a list for fun and maybe a resource for anyone to take a peek at a show or movie they might have missed. So to cap off this decade of shounen brawls, otherworldly reincarnation, animated waifus and all of the emotions, let us reel off some of our personal favorites. And may there be many decades of anime to come to show the world just what animation is capable of.

#50: Girls’ Last Tour

Aidan: When it’s all over, when the last day falls and our history ends with a bang or a whimper, it’s a wonder who will wander our monoliths of civilisation after we are dead and gone. Girls’ Last Tour’s setting is an easy way to get cold hard depression, with it being about two girls wandering through the world after everything is over, the very world alien and devoid of any meaning to both them and us. However, in a twist, the story – while not shying away from the bleakness of the situation – instead focuses on them finding small rays of happiness in the last days of earth. Naturally if everything is already over, then why bother getting sad over it? So for a show set after the unspecified apocalypse, it’s surprisingly upbeat, making for a relaxing watch. It makes you think that if these girls can cheerfully sing, “It’s hopeless!” in the worst situation, whatever has you down is small stuff in comparison.

Mario: Girls’ Last Tour falls within my favorite new trend that emerged in the anime medium over the last decade: dark moe anime. Set in a post-apocalyptic world where the human race is almost extinct, our two girls wander around the world in their Kettenkrad looking for food and shelter. If it sounds a bit bleak and minimalist, rest assured that Girls’ Last Tour is at its heart a slice-of-life show about those girls having a relaxing time in that world. The show could be entertaining and soothing enough with just those factors, but it has more tricks up its sleeves. More often than not, Girls’ Last Tour ponders some basic philosophical questions about our own existence, our purpose in life and even what life is itself. Moreover, the anime adaptation enhances this show further with consistent audio-visual production and great attention to detail. Depressing and comforting at the same time, Girls’ Last Tour is a rare show that produces unique charms and distinctive tones, while always keeping its feet firmly on the ground.

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Neon Genesis Evangelion – 23/24 – Throwback Thursday

by Lenlo, posted in Neon Genesis Evangelion, Throwback Thursday

Ladies and Gentlemen, things are starting to get weird, well weirder, as Neon Genesis Evangelion enters its endgame. I don’t even know what to write as an introduction to the post anymore, because anything I could say is a spoiler. So instead, how about we jump right into it?

Now I have talked about Evangelion’s production enough, so let’s dive right into episode 23, Tears. I want to say that this episode was pretty straight forward, but that seems like a mistake this far into the series. So instead I will say I liked it and think I understand what all went down. At the very least the first half is straight forward, focusing in on the fallout of the past few episodes. Whether that be Misato still grieving for Kaji or Asuka falling deeper and deeper into her depression. I thought Evangelion did good by its characters here, really giving their relationships weight by how they treat these revelations. Meanwhile Asuka’s failures continue to have consequences as she can’t even properly sync with her Eva Unit anymore. Losing the one thing that she had based her worth on. Nothing particularly complex here, but done well nonetheless.

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Winter 2020 Summary: Weeks 7-8

by SuperMario, posted in Weekly Summary

Mario: Welcome to week 8 where we somehow only have one month left before the new season starts. Crazy, right? I still have lots to catch up on, especially Kuutei Dragons and Blade of the Immortal, so hopefully I can watch those in time for the next post. For now, enjoy our thoughts on these second tier shows.

ID:Invaded 8-9

Wooper: I had a good handle on episode 8 as I watched it. The show spent a great deal of time in Momoki’s desert psyche, which functioned as the setting for Sakaido and Fukuda’s miniature buddy movie. Moisture conservation tricks, quicksand escapes, and encouraging banter got them to their destination: a cockpit with Kiki Asukai’s name on it. Surely Hondomachi and Sakaido would meet up in Kiki’s mind this week, I thought, and get to work on another mystery. Nope! As of yesterday’s episode, this show has become Inception: Serial Killer Edition. It turns out that Kiki is really Kaeru, whose dreams play host to murderers summoned by John Walker. Sakaido is caught somewhere between half a dozen dreams, all of which take place in the past, giving him a chance to catch the Challenger before his family is murdered. There’s no time for celebration, though. His new mission is to kill all the serial killers who are conveniently attracted to Kaeru’s brainwaves. This wasn’t just a conceptual left turn – this was a deliberate swerve off a cliff. Is there any hope of coherence for the last four episodes? Guess we’ll find out soon enough…

22/7 – 6

Mario: I only had time for episode 6 of 22/7, and it’s easily my least favorite episode out of this show. To its credits, I found the show’s characterization a tad bit more grounded than typical idol shows. I suppose the reason is that they are based on real idols instead of fictional ones, there’s a ring of honesty in the characters. Like the beginning of this episode where baby Reika fighting for her life feels genuine. In addition, I’m glad we get into the conflict as trivial as this one because when you think about it, teenage girls are usually fret about these tiny little things. But it doesn’t lessen the fact that this episode is boring and insignificant as hell.

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Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken! – 8 [The Grand Shibahama Festival!]

by Lenlo, posted in Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!

Welcome one and all to what is my favorite episode of Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken yet. I laughed, I cried, and I all around loved it as 25 minutes felt like it went by in 5. So enough preamble, lets just jump into it.

Right off the bat, I have to admit, I legitimately teared up during Eizouken this week. I could feel the passion bleeding through the screen throughout the episode. But the part that really got me, that hit the hardest, was the Robot Club President. I loved his run through the campus, you could tell that this was the best day of his life. Both from the VA work of yelling out the OP to their anime to the ugly cries of joy under the costume. Terrify the neighborhood with spine-chilling Scary Halloween Costumes. It was simply infectious. It was a moment bought not through some grand battle or terrible stakes, no one was in danger here. Rather Eizouken created it through the combined passion and works of its characters. All of them pushing towards a singular goal that, even when at odds, they all loved. And it culminated both in the video and in this run.

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Magia Record – 07/08 [I Want to Go Home With You/ You Definitely Shouldn’t Respond]

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

Such a shame for a show that has one of the most impressive productions of the season such as Magia Record that its story can’t match up. Magia Record’s story has one fundamental issue: it’s currently a show where the main protagonists are in search for the plot. That’s why the show feels meandering at times, and its game mechanics are more relevant than ever with new quest/ new rumors. The worst part of it all is how the main storyline of Iroha looking for her lost sister Ui is repeatedly put into sideline, with each mystery case doesn’t have any direct connection to it. I, in particular, was waiting for some dreadful things to happen to Iroha when the luck countdown reaches zero, turns out though that nothing really happens at all. Throw in the already-confusing mix, we have the cult group Wing of Magius with questionable motive and even more questionable activity, Kyouko (one of my favorite characters in the original) randomly shows up and leaves as much impact as a mosquito bite.

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