Vinland Saga – 11 [A Gamble]

by Lenlo, posted in Vinland Saga

I want to say this is a more philosophical week for Vinland Saga. As we spend half of it bantering about religion, the foolishness of war and what it does to a person. Yet Thorkell moving like a meat-blender across the screen sort of takes away from the statement. So instead, how about we just dive right in like we always do? With production.

This week had some nice scenes going for it, with even the CGI seeing a bit of an improvement. Of course the environments stayed top notch, but specifically I want to talk about how the characters interacted with it. The small things, like the soldiers stomping on the leaves, Thorkell blowing one or them falling around him during his talk. It’s small things sure, but they are things that help the great backgrounds feel like more than just window dressing. Going back to the CGI for a minute, while it wasn’t perfect, there was an improvement for the large battle. Some of it was hidden with clever smoke, fire and camera angles. But if that is what they need to do, then I don’t mind much. I think the opening shots of the big battle looked fine. Still, you can see all this with your own eyes. Onto the meat.

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Lord El-Melloi II Sei no Jikenbo: Rail Zeppelin Grace Note – 12 [Lightning and Shooting Star]

by HelghastKillzone, posted in Currently Watching:, Lord El-Melloi II Sei no Jikenbo: Rail Zeppelin Grace Note

As I have speculated in the past couple of weeks, the culprit behind all the crime is Dr. Heartless. What did surprise me was him being a Caules impostor the entire time he was on the train. Lord El-Melloi II isn’t a show about the audience solves the mystery for themselves but there was still a lot of missing context especially when the reason that Waver knew from the beginning was that such medical treatment would not be possible from the real Caules. It was nice of the staff to tie in the original content of the first six episodes where Dr. Heartless was financing all the weird experiment into the leylines around England even if was a little janky in execution. I get the how and the who behind the creation of a fake Holy Grail and the summoning of a fake Heroic spirit but I don’t know why Dr. Heartless would go through all that effort to obtain Faker. Maybe he needs her for protection in his future schemes but that remains a mystery for now as noble phantasms are getting casted left, right and center.

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Kimetsu no Yaiba – 25 [Tsuguko, Kanao Tsuyuri]

by Lenlo, posted in Kimetsu no Yaiba

Welcome one and all, to the penultimate week of Kimetsu no Yaiba. It’s an odd week I feel, though not a particularly negative one. Just the difference between “fine” and “good”, as this week covers more training, Kanao’s backstory and some actually good comedy. So without further ado, let’s dive in.

Starting off, let’s talk about this week’s structure, as the episode opens up on more training for Tanjiro. It’s funny, because this training arc almost feels longer than the initial one of the series. Most likely do to the subject matter at hand. The montage part just wasn’t as interesting as the whole mountain sequence. That isn’t to say it was bad, it had its moments. Tanjiro’s little fan club were always cute. As was seeming him slowly gain progress on Kanao and such. My major complaint though is that it all just feels very… subdued for what is the penultimate episode. Later one we get some new stuff, such as a flashback and an intro to next seasons first arc. And Yaiba is seemingly building up some mysteries in regards to Fire vs Flame breathing. I just didn’t find the first half of the episode particularly engaging.

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Dr.STONE – 12 [Buddies Back to Back]

by Lenlo, posted in Dr.STONE

Welcome to another good week of Dr.STONE, this time tackling a chapter I have been expectantly waiting for. As this week Senku and crew confront the dangerous side of science, Ginro finds his courage and we take another step towards our cure-all. Let’s get right to it!

First and foremost I want to talk about my personal favorite aspect this week, that being Sulfy-chan. It’s easy to see why she came in at #15 on the Dr.STONE character popularity poll. Despite the fact that she isn’t actually a real character. All that said though, Dr.STONE nailed her presentation this week. Really trying its best to harness the horror of the scene and the building dread of an enemy you can’t see. There are places of course that I think the manga did it better, but that is simply down to Boichi’s stellar art. I think that TMS translated it to motion well, foregoing some of the greater detail for slick animation. Such as her face melting, or her spinning into the bottle like a Proton Pack. So just as good, just in different ways. So credit to TMS there this week.

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Mononoke – 7 [Faceless Monster, Part 2] – Throwback Thursday

by Lenlo, posted in Mononoke, Throwback Thursday

And so ends another arc of Mononoke. This was an interesting one as I was simultaneously proven right, yet also wrong, based on last weeks predictions. So without further ado, lets dive right into the finale of our latest horrifying arc.

Starting off, Mononoke this week sort of pulled a fast one on me. It took one of my usual pet peeves with anime, that being reused sets/episode long scenes, and turned it on their head. By incorporating the nature of that scene into the story itself. Suffice to say I thought it rather clever. Parts of it were constrained by Mononoke’s almost slideshow nature of course. The distinct lack of animation throughout the series could be off putting for some. I find the odd flash-fade/zoom in during some scenes this week to be rather dull myself. Most of the time though, the individual scenes have enough to at least keep you looking around until the scene is over. The bright colors and often complex designs sort of act as a bandaid for this I feel. Not perfect by any means, but it serves Mononoke’s story well I feel.

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Lord El-Melloi II Sei no Jikenbo: Rail Zeppelin Grace Note – 10-11

by HelghastKillzone, posted in Currently Watching:, Lord El-Melloi II Sei no Jikenbo: Rail Zeppelin Grace Note

Contrary to last episode’s ending scene of Gray and Hephaestion charging into each other, it winds up being something very reminiscent of the that entire banquet of kings episode from Fate/zero. Although fewer in participants, less epic and far shorter than its predecessor, it’s filled with substantial dialogue between these two warriors about their own nature and desire. Gray, raised to having the body of King Arthur, doesn’t have any desires of her own like saving her people or world domination. Being the protector of Waver seems to be the only thing going for her with a hint or two of developing romantic feelings for him. On the other hand, Hephaestion resents Iskander for never letting go of his dream to see Okeanus which wasn’t achievable. In the end, it’s about the possibility of Grey having a part of King Arthur channeling through her, coming to understand what makes Hephaestion tick and the reveal of her mystic eyes. For the lack of action this episode, having a Mystic Code for a Divine Construct like the Rhongomyniad be reduced down to a snowboard for Gray to escape the forest more than makes it up. Continue reading “Lord El-Melloi II Sei no Jikenbo: Rail Zeppelin Grace Note – 10-11” →

Vinland Saga – 10 [Ragnarok]

by Lenlo, posted in Currently Watching:

This was a pretty insightful week for Vinland Saga. As we get a deeper look into Askeladd’s character, Thorkell goes on the move and Thorfinn continues to question his place in the band. Lets dive in!

Starting off, like always, the productions. This week was, to use a dirty word, pretty damn cinematic. Vinland continues to rely heavily on its backgrounds and framing from the manga. Which are great, I like those! It’s just not an animation powerhouse of a season just yet. A few scenes here and there that are nice, such as last episode with Thorfinn and Thorkell. It just doesn’t match up to Attack on Titan Season 3 Part 2 (Say that five times fast) or Mob Psycho Season 2. Not a big deal of course, but worth mentioning knowing what is coming in the series. On a smaller note before the meat though, Vinland did do a bit of a timeskip this week. Only a few months, but we are now entering a new winter. A little jarring since we just left winter earlier, but it’s important for what is to come.

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