Well then! Fire Force is moving along at a brisk pace. Most other shows draw out the suspense of “whodunit” for at least a few episodes. Fire Force? Nope, it took like one and a half. Also this episode included the cat girl – and…it was well done. I found myself actually cheering for her character, despite absolutely loathing her for the past 7 episodes.
Welcome all to another week of Vinland Saga. Sadly while it was filled with spectacle, this week shows that Vinland’s pacing doesn’t always translate well into anime form. But let’s take it slow as we walk through Thorkell’s fight, Canute’s army and Askeladd’s new plan. Let’s dive in!
In general, I think the episode looked fine. The CGI was of course the usual. Very noticable, and while not offensively bad, it still stuck out like a sore thumb. That said, we did get some beautiful cuts from Arifumi Imai, the man behind some of Attack on Titan’s best cuts. I wasn’t expecting him to show up honestly, I assumed most of Wits A-Team would be working on Kabaneri. But I am happy we did, because that log jump was beautiful. From Thorfinn running across the ships mast, to his almost floaty jump. Really, almost the entire Thorkell fight was a treat to look at. It makes me optimistic for some of the more emotional or action oriented scenes in the future. If nothing else, Vinland gave us some sick animation this week, and that makes me happy. Now though, onto the story.
Continue reading “Vinland Saga – 9 [The Battle of London Bridge]”
This was a rather slow week for Yaiba. As we meet the rest of the Hashira, the Master of the Slayers and the whole thing takes place in one scene. Still, there are things worth talking about, so let’s dive in!
Right off the bat, this was a very slow episode. Little actually happened this week, and the whole thing took place in effectively a single scene. Yes, a number of important things are/did happen during the scene, but a large chunk of it felt… dull. This isn’t surprising though as a majority of the scene was just introducing new characters. This is of course a historical problem for Yaiba. The series tends to ramp their eccentric personalities up to 11 on first introduction. We need only look back at Inosuke and Zenitsu’s introductions for evidence of this. The exact same issue occurred this week. With each of the Hashira coming off very strongly, pushing a singular character trait forward over anything else. This is decent for establishing the basics of a new character quickly. It’s just not particularly interesting or fun though.
Continue reading “Kimetsu no Yaiba – 22 [Master of the Mansion]”
Cydonia Festival is approaching and our girls want to go out with a bang. That’s like, the mentality of every rookie band in their first big gig. The intention fails miserably though, because 1) they’re not the type of flashy band to begin with and 2) before them, Etergun and Angela’s over the top performance completely blows the stadium away. Also happening this week, we have the conclusion of the Angela stalker subplot, Jerry’s attempt to bring Tao to his political side, and Tao acting cool for a change. Overall, this is another typical Carole & Tuesday episode: girls on their episodic quest with a strong performance (in fact, this is my favorite song of theirs), the conflict is raised and resolved a bit too quickly (the stalker’s subplot), and at the end of the day, as I’ve said since the beginning of its run, Carole & Tuesday the series doesn’t necessarily aim for complex narrative or to break any new ground, but it goes for accessibility and can work as an inspiration for those indies who want to break out to the bigger stage.
This was a good week for Dr.STONE. A personal favorite character of mine was introduced, science progressed and everything just came together perfectly at the end. So let’s jump in to my favorite episode of Dr.STONE yet.
Starting off, this week introduces Gen, one of if not my favorite character of the series. Unlike Senku he isn’t terribly smart, and unlike Tsukasa or Taiju he isn’t terribly physical. Simply put, the only thing he can really do is talk, but boy does he talk well. However what makes him my favorite isn’t his personality but rather his place in Dr.STONE’s story. Gen is, more than anyone else, an audience stand in for the technology. He doesn’t know how the things Senku makes works, but he does appreciate them. Gen is there to stand in awe of the technology and to be the reference point for us the viewer. Seeing these impossible things brought back in a stone world. You really only need to look at his reactions to see it. The stunned silence and watering eyes. Dr.STONE does a good job showing his sheer joy.
Continue reading “Dr.STONE – 9 [Let There Be the Light of Science]”
Hello all and welcome to another Throwback Thursday that actually gets posted on a Friday, because my schedule is terrible! This week Mononoke continues it’s terrifying sea story, everyone faces their worst fears, and I get to enjoy being right for once. Let’s dive in!
Starting off I will once again gush about Mononoke’s art. Every week it shows off something a bit different. Trying something just a little new, while keeping the almost papery look. This week however, as much as I enjoyed it visually, I don’t think the horror aspect really worked. Perhaps it’s a consequence of this week being much more upfront with everything. Or maybe the more… not really actiony, but dynamic nature of it? Regardless, Unlike the first 3 episodes, this one seemed far more geared toward answer questions than creating them. Towards establishing things than scaring the viewer. This doesn’t mean there weren’t some scares of course, they were just different. If the first few episodes were jump scares, these were closer to psychological scares. Almost existential ones, taking shots at each characters core. In general though, I think the previous episodes in general worked better than this one.
Continue reading “Mononoke – 4 [Sea Bishop Part 2] – Throwback Thursday”
I’m glad that Kanata no Astra doesn’t beat around the bush with the game changing revelation last week. Once they learn about Quitterie and Funi’s DNA match, they figure out themselves being clones from their respective single parents. It makes total sense as one of the common themes they all share is the neglectance from the parents, by design no less. But allow me to take a moment to dissect how good and bad this revelation gets. In order to do that I’m gonna address it from most to least effective. At its most effective, this twist asks the very question of their existence. They have been born as lab tests and now are being thrown away by their original selves. The weight of it sure is hard to dismiss. Secondly, as soon as we learn about the truth, we proceed to the perspective of the adults, who make it clear that they wanted to erase their clones from existence. It partly works as a tense reminder of threats of them returning home: there’s no home to begin with. On the less positive side, they do want to return home! Goddamnit, why don’t you just settle down somewhere and perhaps enhance yourself with skills and experience first?
For some, Cop Craft might not deliver the ambition it promises in its first two episodes: the production values is still barebone for one, and it lacks the central narrative focus for another, it still burns through the material like gasoline on top of that. But for me, I enjoy Cop Craft much better when it isn’t dealing with heavy-handed overarching plot. The universe in Cop Craft is seedy, corrupt and crimes-ladden, but the show flirts around with its dark settings with light tone and even pokes fun at its absurdity. Sure, aliens are obssessed with human’s porno mags because why not, and in the case of episode 7, a politician gets tangled up in alien prostitute’s ring. Episode 7, titled “Girls on Ice”, remains one of the best episodes in Cop Craft, seemingly because it weaves seamlessly between its dark subject matters and lightheart screwball moments, making the case in this episode fun to follow and still has room for more thoughts if we want to dig a little deeper.
Continue reading “Cop Craft – 07/08 [Girls On Ice/ Smells Like Toon Spirits]”
I respect when a show doesn’t treat the viewers as idiots. What that means in practice is not writing out easily contrived situations where someone acts illogically, just as a plot device or to get out of a pinch. This week on DanMachi, I would say everyone acts logically as the episode comes down from the night in the Pleasure Quarter.
Continue reading “DanMachi2 – 7 [Fox Person (Renard)]”
As expected, Kanata no Astra offers many foods for intriguing thoughts on the table, and a revelation that is pretty much a game-changer here. But first let’s get into the new card of this week, the awoken of Polina, a former astronaut. As with any other Kanata no Astra plot threads, and I mean it in the best possible way, every answer is followed two more bigger questions. Just like the kids (and us), Polina is just as surprised when she finally gets rescued by our leads… just to learn that they had been stranded themselves. The most question mark about her, however, lies on her reaction upon learning the year she wakes up. By her expression, I suppose that something she expected to happen doesn’t happen in this timeline. That might have to do with what the adults have been scheming all the way.