O Maidens in Your Savage Season – 04 [The Purpose of Books]

by Armitage, posted in O Maidens in Your Savage Season, Series which were Dropped

Imagine this. You’re a child. 9 or 10 years old. You don’t know how to talk to people or make friends. You feel lonely so you ask your parents to get you a pet. A puppy. Puppies are really loyal so he’d never leave your side. Your parents tell you wait to wait for some time. Wait you do. Time passes. Years. Everyone else who was a little like you has learned to fit into society. But you wait. Patiently. Diligently. Then, one day your parents tell you that you can have your pet now. But they can’t get you a puppy. Those require too much maintenance. They can maybe get you a hamster or something small. But you don’t want that. You want a dog. It’s your choice now. You can either wait for a puppy or you can be alone.

Hello, everyone. Good to have you back for week 4 of O Maidens in Your Savage Season. Apologies for the late post. I’ve been a bit busy with life stuff. Anyway, getting back on track, this time around, our side characters are fleshed out further and everyone in the cast now really feels believeable and well, real. There’s quite A LOT that happens in this episode. Let’s get to it!

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Kimetsu no Yaiba – 18 [A Forged Bond]

by Lenlo, posted in Kimetsu no Yaiba

Welcome all to another week of Kimetsu no Yaiba! If last week was Zenitsu’s, this is Inosuke’s! As he comes to learn the value of friendship, Tanjiro meets the big bad and the Senpai’s show up to save the day. Let’s dive in!

Starting off, I wanna talk water, because damn did Yaiba’s water look good. I’m not even talking the water sword effects, as those are highly stylized. No no, the actual riverbed that was entirely CGI looked really good. From the splashes to how they layered the 2D characters and environment in with it. A lot of effort and physics simulations clearly went into getting it right just for this scene and it paid off. Really, this arc in general has looked really good. From Zenitsu to Shinobu, the butterfly woman’s entrance, to this water and the demons. Ufotable chose a really good arc to end on and pull out all the stops at, because it’s building up for a better finale than I was expecting for a long running Shounen that’s still in print. Enough vague clues though, onto details!

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Dr.STONE – 5 [Stone World The Beginning]

by Lenlo, posted in Dr.STONE

Welcome one and all to the ending of Dr.STONE’s first arc. This week we have some BS plot armor, some questionable morals and a vision of what could have been for the series. Lets jump in!

With this episode, we have completed Dr.STONE’s first arc. One widely considered, at least by those I talk to, to be the series weakest arcs. As a manga, Dr.STONE was never particularly good at setting up its premise. It just kind of throws you in there, and then ignores the greater mystery for an immediate threat. But then, that immediate threat disappears for a few dozen chapters, before finally returning for the conclusion. None of this is to mention that the actual conclusion to this introductory arc sort of ends on a rather annoying note. I will get into specifics after the break, but suffice to say, for this ending to occur everyone had to be stupid. It’s one of my biggest bugbears with the series, this section right here. And I think reveals the weakness of this adaptation. We will get to that though. For now, onto the episode!

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DanMachi2 – 03 [Gathering (Conversion)]

by Amunchet, posted in Currently Watching:, DanMachi

Welcome to this week’s Dungeon! We have thickening…plots! Also, Hestia shows up late, Bell gets beat up (and likes it), and Lili wins a high stakes drinking game!

For starters, let the record (and the previous blog post) show that I correctly predicted this episode would see the mechanics behind changing families. But boy was I wrong in how we would see it in action. I figured it would be with prize money from the Apollo family to buy out Lili. The multiple transactions and how they came about caught me off guard.

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Fire Force – 3 [The Rookie Fire Soldier Games]

by Amunchet, posted in Currently Watching:, Fire Force

This week’s episode of Fire Force has obvious implications beyond anime – the KyoAni fire. I’ll be addressing this episode as it was without wading into any of the horrific tragedy or any censoring/changes that may have occurred.

Episode 3 starts off with long winded exposition and world discussion. Surprisingly, we meet the bad guys, the state of Earth, and the major players behind the scenes in the span of 15 seconds. Not my favorite way to introduce setting – I would rather be shown than told. From there we are thrust into the newbie online diner games, which I actually liked. Instead of typical shonen overblown tournaments for the local nose picking competition, these rookie games were something that felt like an inter departmental team building exercise – a nice realistic touch. For an added layer of excitement, give parlay a try and see where the thrill takes you.

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Serial Experiments Lain Anime Review – 78/100

by Lenlo, posted in Anime Reviews, Finished Series: Mystery/Suspense, Reviews by Lenlo, Serial Experiments Lain, Throwback Thursday

Serial Experiments Lain is weird. It is a series unlike any other, wholly unique in anime, both modern and historical. Every aspect of it, from presentation to narrative, is best described as an experience. It is because of this that I believe Lain is a must watch, if only to experience a piece of anime history. That said, Serial Experiments Lain can hardly be said to be an “enjoyable” series. It is certainly evocative, Serial Experiments Lain will bring about emotions and force you to confront reality in a unique way. But I at least did not end the series thinking I would watch it again anytime soon, and this density will no doubt be off putting for many. However while these may keep it out of my favorites, it is without a doubt worth your time. Lets go.

(Disclaimer: I am working to make 50 the new “average”. 70 is not an average score people. 70 is above average. Carry on.)

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Mix – 16 [Full of Fight]

by SuperWooper, posted in Finished Series: Sports, Mix

How distracted does a middle schooler have to be to forget his own birthday? For adults, birthdays can get lost in the shuffle of occupational challenges, financial woes, and/or parenthood, but for kids they’re like a second Christmas. The gifts, the attention, the perceived bump in social standing – how could a fifteen year old boy forget such an event? And yet, that’s exactly what Ryou Akai does, only recalling the date when an admiring girl gives him a present before class. Prior to this episode, I’d have said that only his fractured relationship with his brother could have pushed something so special as a birthday from his mind. But Mix steadfastly refuses to shed additional light on their feud, opting instead to bring a new distraction into his life: a newly-minted crush on Otomi Tachibana.

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Vinland Saga – 4 [A True Warrior]

by Lenlo, posted in Vinland Saga

Welcome all, to the grand return of Vinland Saga! It’s been 3 weeks since it first aired and we finally get more, so allow me a moment of release before we start. Ahem, VINLAAAAAAAAND HYYYYYYYPE. Thank you. Let’s jump in.

Starting off, as much as I love Vinland, production wasn’t perfect. Part of this has to do with the fact that a vast majority of this episode was a single scene in the same location. There was very little variance or interesting switchups on screen. And the CGI water also suffered a bit this week. Seemingly passing through the boats at the end. However, there was still plenty to love in Vinland this week. Now I could talk about the artstyle, or the dynamic faces of Askeladd or Thors. However, I want to focus on something Wit does very well. The action. In particular, Askeladd and Thors fight was small scale and beautiful. Wit focused a lot on their swords, full body movements and the tactics, just like the manga, and I loved it. So basically, if Vinland stays the course, I’ll be happy.

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