Kemurikusa – 03

by SuperMario, posted in Finished Series: Adventure/Fantasy/Science Fiction, Kemurikusa

DISCLAIMER: this is an original review of an original show from one of our own reviewers. His ignorance of future characters and plot points may limit his perspective on the series as it unfolds. Proceed with caution!

At there episodes mark, Kemurikusa’s strengths weaknesses are more in clear view now. In a positive side, the world building proves to be ambiguous and compelling. I’m always a fan of a near apocalyptic world where human race has regressed and declined and somehow lose many historical and technological context from its ancestors (many of my favorite anime has this settings: Humanity Has Declined, Sora no Woto, Girls’ Last Tour). This week, we have a glimpse of the next island and it appears to be ruins from our very society. There’s a amusement park, there’s many abandoned buildings that could be the what left of a catastrophe we haven’t yet learnt about. One interesting fact is that the girls regard themselves as human, even though they have their own kemurikusa leaf inside their body and just drinks water to survive. It’s fascinating because with that one remark we get a good idea that these girls have never encountered any real human being before, not up to this point anyway.

The ED that appears this week, along with some passing comments from the girls, do an amazing job of fleshing out these kemurikusa girls’ backstory. We soon learn that there were more team members and many already died before the start of this event. If this ED is any indication we also know about the order of their disease as well. There was a girl called Ryouko whom Rin and Ritsu are quite fond of. She was seen as the one who teaches these girls all the basic survival stuffs. Then there were Ryou and Riku, and two of the six-pack who bite the dust (one of the Rinas died in the first episode). Based on what I heard the OVA and shorts did include them, and I don’t know about these kemurikusa girls enough to know if they can be revived in any way. So far though, I feel a clear sense that the body count will likely to increase as the girls moving to several islands now. The box of grey urns have the same number of the girls who passed away, so it makes sense for me why Rin treasures them so much.

We also learn about “The First Person”, the one that gives birth to all the girls. For now, my theory is that this person learns about the human destruction so they creates this new humankind to survive. While nothing is concrete yet I have a sense that this world is a result of advanced technology went berserk that destroys all the lives on earth. It comes for a reason that these girls function like a plant, one of the most natural resource of them all. Like I said, this world is so layered and intriguing that so much has been discussed, yet there’s still more mysteries around the corner.

In a negative side though, Wakata is still the weakest link but he isn’t the dealbreaker for me. The dialogues aren’t that good to be honest, and it feels rather clumsy the way Rin already develops some physical feeling to Wakata. Many has argued that if Wakata were a girl, we wouldn’t consider him as annoying in which I say, NO. The truth of the matter is that he doesn’t feel like he belong to this world, and while part of the narrative is designed that way, I can’t help but feel Kemurikusa deserves a much more tolerable male protagonist.

Kaze ga Tsuyoku Fuiteiru – 14 [You’re Not Alone]

by Lenlo, posted in Kaze ga Tsuyoku Fuiteiru

Welcome all to another episode of Kaze Fui, Best Boy Simulator 2019. This week we have some more qualified times, lots of wholesome bonding and a hint mystery. Lets dive in!

Starting of light and happy, I loved Kaze Fui’s attention to detail this week. All of our boys, aside from Yuki and Prince, tanning from all their running in the sun. Makes it clear time has passed, to go along with the running montage they had. We also get to see how this has started to effect some of our boys, such as Kings short interview segment. He seemed to sit up straighter, with more confidence, and the Ekiden line is a real conversation starter for an interview. While I am sure Haiji didn’t intend for this to happen, not entirely, it is not to see King’s job search getting addressed. Seeing him move forward on that front. Lastly, I am pretty sure Kurahara was smiling throughout this entire episode, and I loved it. Our boy deserves a little happiness after all his emotional struggles.

Continue reading “Kaze ga Tsuyoku Fuiteiru – 14 [You’re Not Alone]” →

Dororo – 3 [The Story of Jukai]

by Lenlo, posted in Dororo

Airing at the same time as Mob Psycho, completely independently, Dororo also managed a somber, character driven episode. This week we learn more about Junkai the prosthetic doctor, Hyakkimaru’s past, and the world at large. Let’s dive in!

Dororo started off in a very dark place this episode, which contrasted oddly with the beautiful sunset behind it. Before I get into the story aspect of that darkness though, I want to talk about the visuals. A large portion of this episode was in grey scale, or with lots of browns. As effective as it was in some scenes, I was largely not a fan of it. It made multiple parts of the episode visually dull, and this is a visual medium. Especially when compared to the striking reds and oranges that Dororo opened with or we sometimes saw in the middle. Could it be argued the grey scale is what helped those scenes stand out more? That helped the important parts rise higher? Yes, easily. Its a strong argument. I just don’t know if the across the board grey scale was worth how much it provided those scenes.

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Mob Psycho 100 S2 – 3 [One Danger After Another ~Degeneration~]

by Lenlo, posted in Mob Psycho 100 II

Another week, another episode of Mob Psycho, though this week is a little different. Last time was all action and comedy. This time, Mob Psycho takes a more somber, character driven tone, and I love it. So that said, let’s dive in!

Like I said, this week Mob Psycho was much more subdued than previous episodes. There were very few flashy lights or pretty sequences, instead focusing almost entirely on Mob’s character development. Since Reigen is with Mob virtually all the time, it also helps build his character as well. A sort of 2 for 1 deal. Personally, I loved it. It really helps Mob Psycho be more than just another Shounen series. This character focus makes the action sequences mean so much more, especially since the biggest ones are tied to Mob’s emotional state. Gives it a depth that other series can’t reach. With all that said though, how about we hop into some specifics now?

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Winter 2019 Summary – Week 2

by SuperMario, posted in Currently Watching:, Weekly Summary

Welcome to the new weekly section where I will cover current season’s shows that I’m still following that haven’t been blogged by us, the leftovers so to speak. That way readers who watch these shows below can keep tabs on how we feel about them. At the moments aside from the top tiers shows we blogged, there are 7 other shows in which I will drop 2 in the next week depending how they perform. Ideally this post will be at the beginning of the week. Without further ado, let’s jump in

Doukyonin wa Hiza, Tokidoki, Atama no Ue. (ep02)

Doukyonin is a healing show. Well, it’s a different kind of healing show where the two lonely individuals try their best effort to understand each other. It offers you a specific kind of mood and the second episode is a worthy follow-up to its premiere. Structure-wise, it follows the same pattern as the first where we at first follow the writer’s point of view before switching back to the cat. What makes it enjoyable is that the show nails its tone from start to finish. I enjoy the little gags of everyone keeps asking Subaru about his cat’s name and what makes this episode work so well is how the cat thinks totally differently from what we assume (Haru means food, simple as that), yet in the larger picture it just fits. Doukyonin is sweet and pleasant.

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Kouya no Kotobuki Hikoutai – 02 [The Wandering Six]

by SuperMario, posted in Finished Series: Action, Kouya no Kotobuki Hikoutai

Many of you might wonder why I decided to blog this show, despite the first episode spent two third of its time in one single aerial combat, which can be fascinating to watch but bring extremely little to talk about. While I agree that Kotobuki has its fair share of underwhelming aspects (which I will get to that later), it’s the presentation so far that makes it unlike any other show this season. First, it’s a new project from veteran director Tsutomu Mizushima, whose has directed a modern classic Shirobako, but perhaps is more well-known for his own take on genre-anime, to a varying degree of success, such as Girls und Panzers, Another, Mayoiga, Prison School and xxxholic.

Kotobuki’s premise reminds us strongly to Girls und Panzers especially, being another cut girls with military vehicle. So far it does well to differentiate itself from Panzers. The CG visual, for example, is a bold decision and so far it’s a hit-or-miss for me. Whenever it’s CG planes hitting each other it’s a delight to watch and hear. It’s also worth mentioning that Mizushima himself is in charge of the sound mixing, and sound in Kotobuki is anything less than spectacular. When the bullets the air jet, for instance, we can hear the metal sound clashing instead of explosions like other anime tend to do. The CG character designs, on the other hand, leaves a lot to be desired. Generally they look okay, not in the same level of Sanizgen’s designs, but not awful either. But the moments their faces move or we have a close-up from lower angle, the CG is distracting and it looks jarring and unnatural.

Narrative-wise, it’s another bold decision of Kotobuki to throw the introduction / info dump parts down the sewer drain. As a result we pick up the information as they go along, usually with rapid-fire and heaps of talking. While normally I enjoy these kinds of narrative choice, it does it at the cost of the characters themselves given the fact that I can only remember 2 or 3 characters at best and the rest is just blurred somewhere in the background. It’s certainly the show that demands our attention through its natural and quick dialogues to pick up pieces of information or character’s traits through what they say and act. Finally, Kotobuki seems to make up its mind that their central of focus is the lengthy sequence of battles on the sky and in that respect the show fulfils its beautifully. The combats are well choreographed, sometimes it can be a bit difficult to follow but it’s always success of pulling you into the atmosphere.

In term of plot, so far we learn about this Kotobuki squad that consist of 6 female team members, which Kirie and Chika are the ones who tend to do things on their impulse. In this episode Kotobuki attempts to flesh out its world building by investigating the fact that the loss of its industrial cause many abandoned cities. There’s also something going on beyond our team’s knowledge given the squads they were up against are skilled and wasn’t on the mere amateurish level, which for me this win feels like one step forward before a big regression in the future. Kotobuki’s aesthetics might be a hit-and-miss so far, but it still remains a fun action show full of spectacular moments.

2018 Anime Summary

by SuperWooper, posted in Yearly Summaries

Aidan: Judging things as a collective is always a flawed process. Yet for simplistic presentation we stick anything we can into top tens, best of year or greatest hits. To stick a label on so much diverse content is always a matter of point in time favoritism that likely won’t be true in five years or even five minutes from now. But here we are bundling all the anime of the year into a post for easy digestion and judgement which I must insist is highly opinionated. For a general impression of the year I admit to it being a year where there were not many shows that I felt strongly about. There were shows that certainly are good but if asked which was the best of the year I would find that I wouldn’t be all to enthusiastic regardless of my pick. However this could be very much due to this year being a rather busy and tiring year for me which come with the pains of turning thirty and finally admitting that I am no longer young anymore.

Before you scroll down and prepare to scream at us for neglecting the absolute masterpiece of animation that you consider was best of the year allow me to fully concede that this post is far from an ironclad perfection. Our method of choosing this particular winners isn’t foolproof and is dependent on each writer’s knowledge of the anime of that year. I myself prove to be the worst liability in this regard considering that I just didn’t watch much anime this year and started many a series only to forget to finish them. As such you may notice some glaring omissions like the new seasons of Attack on Titan or Boku No Hero Academia which I can assure you are mainly missing due to none of our writers having a particular interest in continuing them. (Though Hero Academia fans you do have an ally on the team with Lenlo. Sadly he’s outnumbered by the rest of us.) Even I find the final list below to be missing some standouts so I at least recommend that you do not use this post as your single source on what to watch from this year.

Each writer has taken up writing a blurb for each show with a tally on what we all voted as the best of the year down below. Once again we do not expect you to agree and if anything maybe we might get you to check out a show you may have overlooked this year. Wakanda forever, let’s jam.

Worst of the Worst

Worst Show: Itou Junji Collection

Aidan: While an argument can be made over there being worse shows than Junji Itou Collection, it can be said that at least those shows have more of an excuse. Junji Itou is a horror mangaka of legendary status that to consider him the HP Lovecraft of manga is not such a far fetched statement. His work has inspired plenty yet failed to gain an adaptation be it live action or otherwise which truly gave his work justice. This anime was a chance to take that work and transform it to a new plane, adding a potential great anime to the rather underexplored anime horror genre. However due to shoestring animation, a general lack of passion or care and oddly chosen stories this anime took these stories and killed the soul out of them. Making what was considered terrifying, unnerving and otherworldly into something aggressively mediocre.

Runner-up: CONCEPTION, for being the first show to put up a link to a website when asked for worldbuilding.

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Boogiepop wa Warawanai (2019) – 04 [VS The Imaginator 1]

by SuperMario, posted in Boogiepop wa Warawanai (2019), Finished Series: Mystery/Suspense

It starts with a girl jumping off the building.
I’m always a sucker for this sort of opener (clue in to Lain and Satoshi Kon even though Kon never technically did that for opener), and it feels like a decent start for the next arc to come. It basically repeats the same formula as the first three episodes, albeit more to my likings. The biggest distribution to that is that this episode more coherent than the first arc, while at the same time remains ambiguous. So far, Boogiepop introduces 2 new characters, both of them prove to be significant to this arc.

It starts with a girl jumping off the building, yet she isn’t literally dead. As we soon learn, she is another non-human villain whom Boogiepop is here to destroy her, and whom Boogiepop refers as “The Imaginator”. Who or what exactly she might be is up to the air right now, and the moment she falls down from the building she disappears to thin air. It’s worth noticing that the Imaginator (in the body of Minahoshi Suiko) is voiced by the recognisable Hanazawa Kana, which for me is a strange choice. She is later referred herself as “a future that’s taken form in the present, or a hypothetical possibility given substance”, which basically just pretentiously BS for me. What I do understand is that unlike Manticore in last arc where he eats human to survive, this supernatural being’s motive is unclear and it mighj not be necessary a bad cause. At the moment she seems to progress human’s strength by giving them a push, both mentally and supernaturally.

And her first prey is Asukai, a school counselor who can see what missing in people’s heart in the form of flowers. That makes it two series this season that a character can see the insight of people that naked eyes can’t (the other one is Dororo), and while it’s certainly an interesting concept, visualize people’s heart is a flower is a bit simplifiable for me. Isn’t it a bit too convenient that “this girl’s flower has no root” or “she’s nice but she has no bud” where there’s no deeper attempt is made for how they are the way they are? What I do enjoy though, narratively speaking, is that it becomes clear as we witness Asukai going through his routine that he’s nearly his breaking point. He can see people’s heart but he has no resolve to it. He’s over the edge of his psychological breakdown and all Imaginator does is push him down the rabbit hole. She appears before him in multiple forms, first as a floating being, and then as she possesses girls around him. The deal-breaker event comes when she possesses a drug-addicted ex-student of Asukai, in which her argument is basically “it’s more justifiable to kill them right away rather than let them suffer” before gives him the power. I expect next week we’d see more of him going berserk and how it pulls other main characters into this whole mess. I’d say this episode is much better and leaner than the premiere in terms of setting up the plot and introduces new characters more methodically, and thoroughly.

Kaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai – 02

by SuperWooper, posted in Finished Series: Romance, Kaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai

WARNING: This review of Kaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai has been authored by a non-manga reader. His ignorance of future characters and plot points may limit his perspective on the series as it unfolds. Proceed with caution!

Boy, is this show a treat. I know we’re only two weeks into the winter season, but Kaguya-sama is my favorite new anime so far by a landslide. Even this episode’s repetition of last week’s establishing narration (before and after the OP) didn’t bring me down. The show leans into its “Geniuses’ War of Love and Brains” premise so heavily, after all, that reminders of their financial and academic superiority only heighten the comedy of their social ineptitude. Despite using bits of recycled animation during these introductions, this episode did move the opening venue from one of Shuchiin Academy’s many hallways to its auditorium, so I hope these changes in setting continue from week to week. It might be nice to omit these scenes altogether once we have a better sense of the characters and setting, but right now they’re important for establishing just how revered (and how gossiped about) Kaguya and Shirogane are by the student body they govern.

Speaking of the student body, this episode introduced several of its less glamorous members, marking a departure from the premiere’s tight focus on its three main characters. The third and final segment of this episode brings a nameless advice-seeker into the council room in search of romantic wisdom from the class president. The only problem? Shirogane is hardly the Casanova everyone envisions him to be, never having been on a date in his life. This chapter is great for a bunch of reasons, chief among them being Aoi Koga’s performance as an eavesdropping Kaguya. Her exasperated and disbelieving reactions to both boys’ stupidity are so good that I’m sure even the staunchest manga purists were pleased. What interested me even more than this segment’s technical merits, though, was the potential it created for the series to further populate its cast of characters. Thanks to our nameless inquirer, we now know that his crush is a girl named Kashiwagi, that they’ve begun dating (despite Shirogane’s spectacularly bad advice), and that her three friends are likely to recur. One of them is singled out in a pre-ED card as “the next person seeking advice,” and given her distraught expression, it’s likely that she had a thing for her friend’s new man. If I had to guess, she’ll probably ask Kaguya for help in next week’s episode, where her romantic ignorance will be measured against the president’s.

This kind of situational repetition is working in Kaguya-sama’s favor so far (the show, not the character), creating a pattern that’s fun to confirm, rather than tiresome to watch. Take this episode’s first chapter, for example, where Shirogane purchases a new smartphone in the hopes that Kaguya will ask for his contact info. He’s quite self-satisfied with his decision, but a flashback reveals that Kaguya had planted a number of her family’s employees on the street to subconsciously entice him to upgrade his phone. This echoes her manipulations from last week, where she secretly delivered movie tickets to Fujiwara as a prize in a fake contest, all in the hopes that she’d give them to Shirogane so he could ask her out. Seeing it confirmed once again that Kaguya’s approach to love involves espionage and deceit charms me to no end, but the president’s tactic of gaining her interest with a profile photo of himself as a child is just as brilliant. These two are a perfect match for one another, given their shared pride and intelligence, which makes it fun to watch them butt heads, even while a part of you is pulling for them to be together. I’m still in the earliest stage of my Kaguya-sama fandom, but whatever route the series ultimately takes, I can’t imagine being unhappy with the outcome.

Yakusoku no Neverland – 02[131045]

by AidanAK47, posted in Finished Series: Mystery/Suspense, Yakusoku no Neverland

Thus the story of the Promised Neverland starts in earnest now that the first episode has revealed it’s book and the nature of the orphanage is revealed. As someone aptly put it, this is like Chicken Run, the anime. It’s quite interesting seeing things from a new perspective now that the curtain has risen as this episode does have a scene which would be heartwarming in other circumstances but turns malevolent once put in context of the new narrative. Such as when a child becomes lost in the woods and Mama goes to search for her, returning with her safely in tow to all the kids welcoming her back. If nothing was revealed last episode this would be a sweet moment but as Norman points out, the action showed deliberate to everyone who knows the truth that Mama can track any of the kids down thanks to tracking devices on them. Though it’s a wonder that even after learning this Emma and Norman don’t seem too concerned over traveling to the wall of the garden often where Mama could look at her watch and figure out what they are up to any moment. But this is under the impression that Mama doesn’t already know which by all accounts doesn’t seem to be the case.

I truly must appreciate just how magnificent an antagonist Mama is for this series and how her particular brand of villainy is a rarity. Mama does not rule through physical force, nor through fear or other typical methods. The endgoal for her is keeping these kids happy in the playpen till it’s time for the slaughter and with that she doesn’t need bars or chains in order to do so. For this woman knows these kids, she is their mother after all for better or worse. That’s what makes her so terrifying. It is a safe bet that the minute she held that bunny at the gate that she knew exactly who left it there. And now her moves all seem calculated to ensure that whatever Emma and Norman plan is sure to fail. That one scene of Mother staring directly at Emma during her one moment of mourning for Connie felt like the first peak past the fake smile to the woman who manipulated and controlled these kids till the moment she lead them to their deaths with them none the wiser. Even the small movement of placing her hand on her neck which could be interpreted as a caring motion or Mama measuring her pulse for signs. Her last move of the episode almost seemed to be generated to crush the kids newfound determination to save all the children as Mama introduces a infant to make matters harder along with a brand new caretaker. If we have an award for best anime antagonist of the year then Mama is going to be a strong contender.

The direction of this series remains excellent as I particularly like the nightmare sequence of the beginning along with the show of Emma afterwards being watched from a swinging pendulum. Though there were these odd shots where the screen would blur and a characters face would be superimposed on screen. I get this was to somewhat emphasize their emotions and facial expression at that moment but the change I find somewhat disconcerting. This episode also has our three main characters truly get together in the mission and I rather like the aspect of freudian theming here with Emma being ID, Ray being Ego and Norman acting as Superego. Otherwise meaning that Emma is the emotional center, Ray is the rational thinker and Norman is the negotiator who generally guides or decides. It makes their approaches to the situation different from each other and how they see things. The mind games are now beginning and it’s looking hopeful that Promised Neverland can keep up the presentation to make this a tense claustrophobic experience. I am just hoping that new black character with the design similar to racist stereotypes doesn’t generate some stupid controversy which will probably make the show more popular but gives me a headache to deal with.