My first post on the new, shiny site! Big shout outs to everyone who worked to get it up and going – Lenlo especially for shouldering the brunt of the technical issues and migration. Everyone pitched in though, and it was a great feeling seeing everything come together! Now we can stop playing with WordPress and get back to watching great anime! Like MHA!
Continue reading “My Hero Academia – 69 [An Unpleasant Talk]”
We have our second batch of LOGH episodes and while the previous batch focused on the stirring of rebellions within both civilizations, this batch has the focus of those coup d’etats being executed and the consequences therein. I find the contrast between the two to be fascinating as both governments are undergoing the same problem but the perspectives are quite different. The Lippstadt alliance being the former privileged upper class attempting to reclaim their status all the while preparing to backstab each other if they succeed. Meanwhile the National Salvation Military Council are the very definition of the saying “The road to hell is paved with good intentions.” as they certainly have the best interests of the people at heart but their methods are more or less a repeat of the very thing that birthed the Goldenblum dynasty in the first place. It’s hard to claim that you are here to provide salvation while pointing guns at the people you claim to save.
I truly feel sorry for Merkatz in the Lippstadt alliance. He’s a man that clearly doesn’t want to be there and sees exactly how the whole thing is going to turn out. He wouldn’t even be there if he wasn’t blackmailed into participation yet he still tries to do his job to the best of his ability. Yet despite this the nobles of the alliance pretty much seem determined to rush into their own demise. Merkatz is the sensible man trying to herd a bunch of entitled selfish brats into saving themselves. He let them lose a battle on purpose hoping that would teach them some humility and get them to finally take Reinhard seriously. But instead they double down on their pride and fall straight for Reinhard’s traps, congratulating themselves all the while. Merkatz pain and frustration is all too visible when having the leader of the alliance walk straight into a trap, having to save said dumbass and then have that dumbass yell at him for not coming sooner. It’s a sad fact that this very thing echos current times far too well with people forced to make stupid moves all because of some incompetent man-child at the top of the command chain. The nobles of the Lippstadt alliance are a cautionary tale of just what is produced when someone is fostered under a social class of unearned privilege. Truly it’s almost a joke with how the Lippstadt Alliance more or less falls apart due to its own incompetence. Reinhard almost doesn’t have to do anything, the nobles do all the damage for him. From shooting their own ships to make an escape to killing one of their most loyal generals due to suspected treachery orchestrated by Reinhard. Continue reading “Legend of the Galactic Heroes Die Neue These – 17-20”
Another week, another fantastic episode of Vinland Saga. If last week dialed in on Canute, then this week was all about Thorkell and by extension Thors. And boy did I enjoy it. As Vinland Saga dives into their shared history, Thorkell’s regrets and Canute’s future. So without further ado, let’s dive in.
Before we get to the meat however, like always, PRODUCTION. WOOOOO TECHNICAL STAAAAAAAATS. Everyone’s favorite I know, but it’s something I love, so I am gonna keep talkin about it. Once again, Vinland Saga gave us two ends of the spectrum this week. From the fantastic animation of Thorkell’s short fight with Thorfinn, to the CGI boats on the ocean. Now to be fair, the CGI boats actually weren’t the bad. The pan out really helped hide the lack of detail, and there was enough going on on screen to distract you while they were there. The same can’t be said for the CGI soldiers in the background for a number of scenes, but hey. At least they were standing still so it might pass your notice if you weren’t paying attention. For the most part though, I enjoyed the picturesque visuals of it all. Now onto the meat! Continue reading “Vinland Saga – 19 [United Front]”
With this episode I have a good grasp of how to approach Beastars: it’s that of a grand star-crossed Greek play. That would fall neatly in place with the drama performance within the show, and explains Legosi’s heightened expression of love and jealousy at the end. This week, Beastars goes through the love quadrilateral and informs us about the chemistry between each pair. Everyone, especially Louis, encourages Legosi to go out with Juno, and certainly Juno has some affection towards our main boy. Legosi, however, turns her off with his talk about biology (it’s more like chemistry to me) and it’s quite clear that he only has Haru in his mind. Poor Juno who is already lost in a battle before it even starts.
Welcome one and all to Dr.STONE and my first post on the new site! I hope its working well for anyone, and if you have any issues, please leave a comment somewhere. We want to make it the best we can. That said, let’s get into the episode.
So really quick, lets run through Dr.STONE production this week. There were a number of picturesque scenes throughout I feel. From the Christmas tree to the dawn of the New Year. Like always, I think Dr.STONE pulls these off well. Instilling a good amount of emotion into what are otherwise pretty basic shots. Something about the music, the framing and the characters all comes together to make them greater than they otherwise would be. The big thing though from this week I think is actually how the science is presented. As we are starting to get into very small things, science which requires precision. Unlike the water wheel or the generator or even the ramen stand, the lightbulbs and such are to small to really show off building. At least to do so easily I feel. So I think Dr.STONE did a fine job depicting scale and precision here. Continue reading “Dr.STONE – 21 [Spartan Crafts Clubs]”
Hey there! You’ve managed to find the new incarnation of psgels.net, one of the oldest surviving English language anime blogs on the web. Though our history may be long, we’re always looking forward, as seasonal anime is the bread and butter of our site. Here you’ll find episodic reviews of currently airing shows (plus weekly installments of Throwback Thursday), quarterly season previews, first impressions of new series as they premiere in Japan, and yearly rundowns of our favorite anime – 2019’s is just around the corner!
Whether you’re coming from psgels or you’re new to Star Crossed, we appreciate your readership. Let us know you’re here with a comment below, or by sounding off in the shoutbox to the right. Though we’re in the midst of a busy holiday season, new content will start appearing on the site very soon. Anime is a ride that never stops running, and neither do we – the new era of Star Crossed Anime begins now!
This episode was a tale of two halves in my view, but there’s no good tennis metaphor that I can use as a comparison, so a direct explanation will have to do. Essentially, I found the first half (the conclusion of Maki and Toma’s doubles match) to be a dull affair, while the team barbecue during the B part reignited my interest in the series. Hoshiai no Sora established itself as a character drama from its very first outing, and with so many unresolved anxieties still to address within Shijo’s tennis club, the recent emphasis on sports has generated mixed results. No such issues arise, however, when the show sits a bunch of people around a table to converse about their lives (the food is just a pretext).
Moving past the action-packed conclusion of the Gubernatorial elections case, Psycho-Pass 3 goes for a dialogue-heavy episode in preparation of whatever its decides to do for the last three episodes.
Continue reading “Psycho-Pass 3 – 05 [Agamemnon’s Offering]”
Another week, another episode of Neon Genesis Evangelion, possibly the last one before the site move. A nice dash for finality, I think. As this week Evangelion continues to explore Shinji’s mental state, what living in this world is like, and a dash of exposition. Lets dive in!
Starting off, this was the first episode of Evangelion to not wow me. Don’t get me wrong, it looked fine, but compared to the first two it was pretty static. For instance we saw the general 90’s explosions of simple circles overlaid onto the object itself. Or the same repeating image of the Angel in the fight at the end. Flashing back and forth as the characters count down. Or Shinji’s face during it all, with heavy red filters and such. I understand the attempt, what it was going for there, but for me it felt almost… overdone? At least when combined with the screaming and other noises going on at the time. Still, its not like it was bad, there is still a good amount of direction and decent cuts going on here. It just feels like all the good cuts will be limited to the Eva is all.
Continue reading “Neon Genesis Evangelion – 3 [The Silent Phone/A Transfer] – Throwback Thursday”
I’ve positively loved the last five episodes of Chihayafuru’s third season, so I don’t derive any pleasure from saying that I kind of hated this one. “The Storm Blasts,” in my eyes, makes an unwise narrative choice to achieve a convenient result, and creates a minefield of non-credibility for the show going forward. Though it’s this episode I’ll be criticizing here, Madhouse’s adaptation is perfectly faithful to Suetsugu-sensei’s manga, so her plotting is the thing that actually troubles me. The mechanical aspects of the anime are great, as usual, but the issue of Chihaya attending her class trip has implications beyond delaying her run at the Queen title by a year. Hit the jump if you’re interested in a breakdown of why that is.