Chihayafuru S3 – 15 [Helpless Autumn Leaves]

by SuperWooper, posted in Chihayafuru, Finished Series: Sports

When this week’s episode opened with Chihaya staring dazedly into space, Arata’s voice looping in her brain, I thought we might be in for a slightly more romantic affair than the one we ultimately received. Chihayafuru has never dwelled for too long on that part of its story, but having crossed a major threshold just recently, there was no way to know for certain whether the formula might change. Now we’ve seen the karuta-heavy aftermath that had been in store all along, and any hopes or fears that the show might undergo some metamorphosis have been put to rest. Chihaya is still a lovable nerd, Arata is back in Fukui, and the secondary members of the karuta club are nearly irrelevant, as they have been practically all season.

Continue reading “Chihayafuru S3 – 15 [Helpless Autumn Leaves]” →

Dorohedoro – 02 [In the Bag]

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

A couple notes before we get started: I’ve only read the first volume of the Dorohedoro manga, which was covered by the anime’s first two episodes. As such, I won’t be making comparisons between the two versions, so if that’s what you’re looking for specifically, you’ll have to search elsewhere. If you’re a manga reader, the plus side of my TV-only viewership is that you can read someone’s unspoiled thoughts on the series’ nutty developments. Plus, this being an anime review, I can talk about color, animation, music, and voicework – though that sort of discussion might have to be tabled for the first couple posts while I try to wrap my brain around the show’s unique logic.

Also, I’m watching with [anon]’s subs, which read more smoothly to me than either of the currently available alternatives. Just in case anyone was wondering which version to download, there’s my two cents.

Continue reading “Dorohedoro – 02 [In the Bag]” →

Winter 2020 Summary – Week 3

by SuperMario, posted in Weekly Summary

Mario: Welcome back to our Weekly Summary Column, I am the new host for this season, Mario. After a frantic first impression period, we are getting more stabilize now and starting to settle on our weekly offerings. I still need to catch up with leftovers from last season such as Blade of the Immortals and Babylon (yep, that Whore of Babylon) and maybe some other shows this season like 22/7, but that’ll be for the next post. Enjoy the roundup and tell me which shows you are following this season or even which shows you want us to cover here. We’ll take that into consideration.

ID:INVADED – 2-4

Wooper: ID:Invaded is my pet show of the season (not to be mistaken with my Pet show of the season). It’s not a critical darling like Eizouken or a surprise hit like Somali, but its high-concept procedural story and unconventional character designs have led me to favor it above most of this winter’s offerings. The plot: brilliant detective Sakaido solves his cases by entering the subconscious of serial killers, rendered as fractured, perilous mindscapes which he must navigate to uncover their identities. One of the things I appreciate most about Invaded is that, despite the magnitude of its premise, the characters aren’t swallowed by it. They have existing workplace relationships and personal histories, even if they’re not the focus of the show. Sakaido’s relationships with the more traditional cops and analysts on his team provide a nice foundation for his bloody backstory, which becomes clear in episode 3. After we learn what horrors he’s experienced, the show begins to demonstrate the influence and the existential detachment that comes from diving into people’s unconscious minds. The show is too verbose at times, and not every subconscious world is as interesting or well-designed as the last, but it has me intrigued enough to consider it a priority watch each week.

Somali to Mori no Kamisama – 2

Mario: I consider Somali episode 2 better than the first one (the premiere has a clumsy exposition part that nearly turns me off for good). The second episode has our Golem and Somali meeting other casts, so we both learn more about the world, and see how the chemistry between them all play out. The end of the episode also reveals more about Golem’s health and that adds to some urgency in regards to their journey. Golem and Somali also has a solid relationship where they grow fond of each other. But saying all that, I still can’t fully embrace the show and I do feel it loses its steam even after just 2 episodes. The fact that Somali is human could pose a potential threat given other beings are likely to consume her should they know – and I think the show will go there, but for now, we don’t sense any of that danger anywhere. And I know I just mentioned about the “urgency” but in truth, I don’t feel any sense of “hurry” at all. If I have to put my finger on why I’m still skeptical about the show, I’d say that its formula is too safe and predictable for now that it never full grasp me. Shake things up a bit would do the show better, I reckon.

Continue reading “Winter 2020 Summary – Week 3” →

My Hero Academia – 76/77 [Infinite 100%/Bright Future]

by Amunchet, posted in Currently Watching:, My Hero Academia

So far, I’ve complained more about this arc of MHA than any other in the past.  I wasn’t sold on the departure from the school setting, and I’ve bemoaned my favorite characters not getting screen time.

I was wrong.

These last two episodes have silenced any complaints.  These were two superb episodes: top 10 for the entire series easily.
Continue reading “My Hero Academia – 76/77 [Infinite 100%/Bright Future]” →

The Case Files of Jeweler Richard – 02 [The Ruby’s Truth]

by SuperMario, posted in Currently Watching:, The Case Files of Jeweler Richard

Welcome to Jeweler Richard, one of the two shows that Amun and me are going to take turn to blog each week. For me, I find it interesting to see the varied opinions between me and him on the same shows. This episode, in particular, divides us. Amun hates it but I find it decent – not on par with the premiere, but still very decent. Granted, I can see some issues this week, most notably the case that has little to do with Richard’s appraisal skills. The jewelry in question this week is the pigeon-blood ruby, known for its namesake color. Mami the client wants to know whether or not the ruby had been heated, but it’s increasingly clear that there’s something else that she wants. In terms of the progression regarding that ruby case, it is all over the place at best. Suddenly out of nowhere, her fiancee appears to info-dump about Mami’s backstory – and the thing was he’a never that important a role to begin with. She uses a fake name whose we soon find out is the name of her past’s flame. On the positive notes, Jeweler Richard the show has this fascinating view about women’s lives – Seigi’s grandma last week and Mami this week show how these women struggling with the roles they were expected to perform and their real desires. For that I’m willing to look aside all its shaky elements for now.

Continue reading “The Case Files of Jeweler Richard – 02 [The Ruby’s Truth]” →

Magia Record – 02/03 [It’s Proof of the End of a Friendship/ Sorry For Making You My Friend]

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

Magia Record sure has a pretty big hurdle to pass: for everything it does there will be a comparison to its original – which for me is both fair and unfair at the same time. Every product should be judged on its own merits, but Magia Record gains its attention for being a Madoka’s spinoff (or else no one would be willing to watch it), so that it’s a show’s responsibility to justify why it needs to be here in the first place. As far as the first three episodes concern, they (mostly) manage to stand on its own terms. It keeps the spirits of the original – the sense of there is something wrong in this world is clear, and several mysteries remain in support for that uneasy feeling. What is the deal with this Kamihama city, for example? The magical girls there are more powerful than the rest, the witches don’t have Greed seed (which implies that they might not be witches in the first place), and Kyubei can’t enter the area. Then we have the mystery regarding Iroha’s little sister Ui, as she dreams of her sisters’ best friends while she was living in the hospital. What did she wish for that single handedly wipe out Ui’s existence from everyone’s memory, Kyubei included? I’m sure that wish is not for the faint of heart.

Continue reading “Magia Record – 02/03 [It’s Proof of the End of a Friendship/ Sorry For Making You My Friend]” →

Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken! – 3 [Let’s Accomplish Something!]

by Lenlo, posted in Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!

Another week, another fantastic episode of Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken! This week we continue to dive in to the technical side, as our crew begin to produce their first animated short. Learning about short cuts, time and business considerations, and just creative freedom. So without further ado, lets dive in!

Starting off, this week Eizouken gives us our first major goal, the Budget Committee! It’s a nice and manageable one I think, a way to get the ball rolling, and lets Kanamori strut her stuff. As this first goal, with its set deadline, really lets the time/business aspect of anime production shine through. For instance I loved how Kanamori just broke down how much effort a 5 minute shot would be, at a simpel 12 fps. Resulting in a 3600 frame count, along with all the other overhead. While its pretty obvious, and something anyone could figure out, it’s also something anime fans ignore a lot I think. The sheer amount of effort that goes in to a production, the sheer number of drawings that have to be produced for a single minute of footage. And yes, there are shortcuts as Eizouken shows us, but its still work.

Continue reading “Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken! – 3 [Let’s Accomplish Something!]” →

Runway de Waratte – 2 [The Professional World]

by Lenlo, posted in Runway de Waratte

Welcome to the second new series I am blogging this season, Runway de Waratte! A really odd choice for me all things considered, but it caught my interest and I figured why not branch out. This week continues the surprises as Runway backs up the progress a bit and shows us just how brutal the fashion industry is. Lets dive in!

Runway opened up answering a lot of questions/issues I had with the first episode. Such as how quickly it was moving, how they became professionals almost immediately, etc etc. I didn’t like how it seemingly skipped over all the hard work/amateur level stuff they could have done. So to see Tsumura’s age come in, how they won’t hire high schoolers and such, was nice. It sets up the end goal of the season, getting hired, and makes them actually work for stuff. Now I am still not sure what Chiyuki’s position in all of this is, as her father seems pretty adamant about not letting her model. He didn’t even lift her suspension until the 2nd half of the episode, but that’s also not terribly important I don’t think. No, the important thing is what Runway does from here.

Continue reading “Runway de Waratte – 2 [The Professional World]” →

2019 Anime Awards and Top 10 List

by SuperWooper, posted in Yearly Summaries

Amun: New year, new writers, new website, and a new intro! 2019 saw many changes for Star Crossed, but as long as we have our anime with big eyes, bright colours, and minor epilepsy inducing flashes, everything will be alright! This was the year of sequels: good and bad. Not to worry though, as many smaller projects shone through – with a couple breaking out to become multi-season franchises and promised movies. Now that the year is over, it’s time for the Star Crossed writers to dole out our accolades to the anime that impressed and disappointed us; and we finish off with our collective top ten best of the year. So let’s take a look back at the annoying cat-girls, weird kappas, no longer mysterious Titans – and finish out the decade in style!

 

Worst of the Worst

Worst Show: One Punch Man S2

Lenlo: Some series had worse animation, some had worse story, and some had worse characters, but One Punch Man managed to be consistently terrible in all of them. The production by JC Staff fell woefully short of “acceptable”, the narrative adapted the incomplete setup to an actual arc that mattered, and it butchered some of the series’ best characters. Across the board, this season of One Punch Man was a colossal failure that every member of staff here managed to agree upon. And it only gets worse once you start to consider the legacy of the series. From Murata’s godlike art, to the labor of love that was the first season by Madhouse. There is a reason that, collectively, everyone here hated it.

Runner-up: SARAZANMAI. Star Crossed authors are deeply divided on Sarazanmai, with a vocal minority giving enough negative feedback to propel this to the runner-up spot; the detractors decry the pretentious, “woke” plotline and peculiarities masquerading as “artistic”.

Worst First Episode: Arifureta

Amun: Arifureta had the worst first episode I can remember. The animation was unacceptable for a production level anime – it was actually unacceptable in some places for a PowerPoint presentation. Normally, first episodes are meant to make a good impression by pulling out all the stops up front – quality then tapers down later. Not so here. The tragic part was that I came into Arifureta with reasonably high expectations: White Fox, who knows how to make a fantasy anime (even if I didn’t enjoy Goblin Slayer), helmed the project. The director Kinji Yoshimoto had several decently well known series under his belt (Queens Blade and I Couldn’t Become a Hero). Unfortunately, in a season marked by poor isekai adaptations, Arifureta stood out as the absolute worst. May its namesake award on Star Crossed First Episode Awards serve as a warning to other shows: at least make your first episode decent.

Runner-up: GIRLY AIR FORCE, for hideous production values and a script that set our minds on autopilot.

Continue reading “2019 Anime Awards and Top 10 List” →