Kaina and the Great Snow Sea – 3 [Traveling Down the Orbital Tree]

by Lenlo, posted in Currently Watching:, Kaina and the Great Snow Sea

Welcome back, to another week of Kaina and the Great Snow Sea! This week we reach the bottom of the tree, Ririha and Kaina get to know each other, and the villains introduce red-haired general lady. Lots to enjoy this week, so lets dive in!

Right off the bat, I want to say that I’m actually starting to get used to Kaina’s visuals. It still doesn’t look good, sure. But without the wrinkled skin old people to show us just how texture-less it is, it’s nowhere near as noticeable. It also helps that the Canopy Tree is a fantastic backdrop, and that Polygon Pictures actually did a decent job of compositing them onto it. They stood out, sure. But they still interacted with it, and were framed against it, pretty decently. Take the ledge scene for instance. They fit pretty well onto that small outcrop, and it felt like they interacted with it well. Most likely it, and the tree surrounding it, are CGI models themselves with a painted texture. But however they accomplished it, it didn’t look bad. At this point, it’s really just the hair that stands out. Most of the time.

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Michiko & Hatchin – 19/20 [Nettlesome Light-blocking Butterfly/Rendezvous of Extermination] – Throwback Thursday

by Lenlo, posted in Currently Watching:, Michiko e Hatchin, Throwback Thursday

Welcome everyone, to the penultimate week of Michiko & Hatchin! Last week was solid, as for the first time in ages it felt like the show finally cared about its premise. This week? Somehow even better. It’s like they saved an entire cours worth of content and decided to shove it into the last few episodes. Good for these posts, probably not as a regular viewing experience. Anyways, without further ado lets dive into the episodes!

First up I want to talk about the production, because aside from it’s backgrounds Michiko & Hatchin hasn’t had a particularly strong one. Oh there’s some decent shots in the first few episodes, and one or two spring up after that. But rarely has the show “wowed” me at all. At least until this week. More specifically, at least until episode 19. More more specifically, that final ending train sequence. Everything about that was just fantastic. The backgrounds, the facial expressions, the character movement. Rough in places, sure. But still one of the most memorable scenes of the entire show. Takafumi Hori did an incredible job here and managed to make the beginning of the end more climactic then most of the arcs leading up to it. Hopefully they can pull this off again for the last two episodes, but I’m hungry for me.

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The Fire Hunter – 2 [The Three Brides]

by Lenlo, posted in Currently Watching:, The Fire Hunter

Welcome everyone to the last show of the season, The Fire Hunter! This is definitely the one I have the least handle on, let me tell you what. It has the most potential, with the ability to soar higher then Kaina possibly could. But so far it isn’t anywhere as consistent as Kaina or Vinland Saga. What does that mean? Well lets dive in and talk about that.

First up, and my main point regarding consistency, Fire Hunter’s production. It’s rough. Picture in picture style direction has never been something I’ve enjoyed, and Fire Hunter uses it a lot. Freeze frames with oddly placed and panned windows of reaction faces. And while Fire Hunter isn’t a particularly movement heavy show, the movement we do get isn’t that great. You could argue that stuff like the Flame Fiend are supposed to be jarring and off-putting, and you wouldn’t be wrong. But it doesn’t make for a great visual experience. Furthermore, even the stuff that is good is used weirdly. Take the incredibly beautiful eye-catches Fire Hunter has for example. These brightly colored and detailed stills are stunning, and can make for some high-impact dramatic moments, like the finale! But they feel incredibly out of place during say… cleaning a toilet. As I said: Inconsistency is Fire Hunter’s greatest weakness.

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Kaina and the Great Snow Sea – 2 [Princess of the Snow Sea]

by Lenlo, posted in Currently Watching:, Kaina and the Great Snow Sea

Welcome everyone, to my 2nd show of the season, Kaina and the Great Snow Sea! For the sake my sanity, and word count, I’m just going to call it Kaina from now on. I hope you’ll forgive me this transgression. Now without further ado, onto the episode!

Starting off, lets take a deeper look at Kaina’s animation and production. As we mentioned in our initial impressions, Kaina… Kinda (heh) looks like shit. The character models look plasticky and stiff, in what has sort of become Polygon Pictures staple. That’s no surprise. But where I do want to give the CGI credit is in the monsters and their design. This CGI may look like shit on soft, squishy people, but on hard carapace-d giant bugs like the Tree Fly? It doesn’t look half bad. Not great, but it certainly sticks out far less on something we know isn’t supposed to be recognizably human. Pair that with Kaina’s greatest production strength, it’s absolutely stellar background art, and you have what I think is an ultimately passable art style. At the very least it’s enough that I picked it up to blog about it for a season.

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Michiko & Hatchin – 17/18 [Buckets of Blood! Opera that Stirs the Heart/The Fool’s Ballistic Samba] – Throwback Thursday

by Lenlo, posted in Currently Watching:, Michiko e Hatchin, Throwback Thursday

Welcome everyone, to another week of Michiko & Hatchin! There’s been a lot of negativity in the past few episodes, lots of complaints about the lack of meaningful narrative. And I stand by those! But as if it heard my thoughts, this week is marked shift towards exactly what I was talking about. Is it perfect? No. Can more be done? I hope so. But its a step in the right direction. So lets talk about it.

Starting off we have episode 17, “Buckets of Blood! Opera that Stirs the Heart”. This episode was a pleasant surprise. It’s the first one in a long, long time to actually make me feel like these two are family. Not just in the big moments, like Hatchin trying to save Michiko, but the small ones to. Stuff like having their photo taken together and roughhousing, or the small hug at the end rather then Michiko hitting Hatchin for disobeying her. For once, I feel like Michiko and Hatchin are finally, FINALLY, starting to care for each other in a meaningful way. Not just in that they need each other to survive, but because of a true emotional connection. I’d rather this have started a long time ago, but I’m not going to begrudge Michiko & Hatchin for doing something food just because it’s late.

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Winter 2023 Coverage & First Episode Awards

by Lenlo, posted in Uncategorized

Lenlo:  Sniff Ahh, do you smell that? The smell of a new year, with new anime. Not all of them are great. In fact most of them suck! But there are a few standouts even in this generally light season, and a few with the potential to be something special. Down below you’ll find our usual seasonal trophies, voted on by all of us here, as well as our coverage list for the season! Well I say “Our” coverage list, it’s really just me since Amun hasn’t decided what they want to watch yet. Keep a lookout for their post though, as they mentioned doing a poll with a bit of a rant attached! As for myself? Well I need to get to filling out my Anime of the Year ballot, as well as writing up Michiko & Hatchin and Kaina. Busy busy.

Winter 2023 Lineup

Lenlo
– Michiko & Hatchin – Throwback Thursday
– Kaina and the Great Snow Sea
– Vinland Saga S2
– Fire Hunter

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Winter 2023 Impressions: Trails of Cold Steel, Reborn to Master the Blade

by Lenlo, posted in Some Quick First Impressions

The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel – Northern War

Short Synopsis: To protect her hometown from the Erebonian Empire and to distinguish herself from her grandfather’s disloyalty, Lavie enlists in the Northern Jaegers where she’ll do whatever it takes to carry out the mission. Now this rule breaker must form a platoon to embark on a dangerous recon mission into enemy lines—will her mission be a success?

Lenlo: I was really hoping for a bit more… pizzaz from Trails of Cold Steel. After hearing about the videogame from some friends who wouldn’t shut up about it for years, I thought that it would surely be something decent. Right? But like Mario says, it’s about as generic as you would think. Info Dumps and mediocre monsters, lackluster production, there’s just nothing here to really love. So excuse me here at the end of this preview spree if I don’t write anything more then “Don’t”.
Potential: Don’t

Mario: We are at the tail end of this Seasonal Preview. Legend of Heroes is just as generic as its title. It spends all the focus on the settings, but forgets to add characters worth remembering or tell a story worth following at all. The cast includes a female soldier, and two lackeys who spill the information of the world blatantly – even at one point they remark “a kid should know this story”, and then proceeds to infodump us. There’s a hint of an upcoming uprising, but I don’t hold my breath here. The show offers me nothing to care about.
Potential: 0%

Reborn to Master the Blade: From Hero-King to Extraordinary Squire

Short Synopsis: Old hero gets reincarnated as a girl, then promptly defeats a giant monster while still in nappies.

Lenlo: Old man reincarnated as a hot girl with all the powers you can ask for. Sure. Maybe if it was playing the whole thing off as a joke rather then having a shot in the OP that explicitly focuses on the female casts tits, telling us exactly what this show is about, it could be fun. But really it’s just the lowest common denominator shlock. Seriously, don’t introduce them as babies and then sexualize them in the OP right away. It feels way to much like grooming.
Potential: 0%

Amun: “I may be a baby, but the power isn’t so bad.” That is no bamboozle, the actual line from the show. There’s an overpowered infant who becomes an overpowered (and slightly bratty) girl. Throw in a duel and a fight with a large monster thing and some cousin love…all while an old man masquerades as his “ideal cute granddaughter” (their words, not mine). I’ll give a few merits for having a slightly unique arrangement of the common isekai components – but that’s really not enough to make a show worth watching. (I must say, “I may be a baby…” was a pretty funny line though, I appreciate that).
Potential: 0%

Winter 2023 Impressions: Kubo Won’t Let Me Be Invisible, UniteUp!, Saving 80,000 Gold, Campfire Cooking in Another World

by Lenlo, posted in Some Quick First Impressions

Kubo Won’t Let Me Be Invisible

Short Synopsis: This schoolboy is so invisible that it’s a sport to spot him (brings you good luck). Fortunately, the girl who sits next to him can find him every time.

Amun: Socially adept girl teases awkward guy – I’ve definitely seen this before…this season even (Nagatoro 2). That’s what I thought going in, but I was pleasantly surprised by Kubo. For starters, it’s not mean. I think the teasing shows can really toe the line between cute and bullying – Kubo is just wholesome. Now, you might get cavities but at least you’re not cringing – I’ll take that trade. Character designs are a little meh, and the animation is passable at best. Personality, not looks for this one. Will it get boring halfway? Probably, but I’m willing to give it a few more. It’s just so heartwarming ^_^

Potential: 61%

Lenlo: What we have here is a “Reverse Komi-san”. Instead of a socially inept girl with an outgoing male love interest, its a socially inept boy with an outgoing female love interest. While this one has a much more active female lead, I can’t help but see it as wish fulfillment for the anime watching quiet weeb crowd and their desire for a cute girl to take an interest in them despite a complete lack of effort in any way on their part. Now Amun is right in that, unlike Nagataro, it’s nor mean about it. There’s no bullying or anything, which is a plus. It’s definitely a much more wholesome choice. But I still can’t say I’m all that interested in another wish-fulfillment romance. Watching this episode felt like it took an hour. After just 5 minutes I was checking my clock wondering how long I had been here. Suffice to say, it’s really not my speed. I can see the quality to it, it seems like a well made wholesome romance. But like Komi-San, it doesn’t feel like a show where anything actually… happens?
Potential: 10%

 

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Vinland Saga S2 – 2 [Ketil’s Farm]

by Lenlo, posted in Currently Watching:, Vinland Saga

Welcome everyone, to the first post of not only the Winter season but 2023 as a whole! Well… first series post, the first impressions don’t count. Anyways, the first series of the year is Vinland Saga! A favorite of mine, I’ve been looking forward to this for a long time, so lets jump right into it!

Starting off, lets take a more in depth look at the production. Unsurprisingly, Vinland Saga isn’t particularly animated. And that’s fine! It’s not a show that needs to be. Vinland Saga, at least in this arc, isn’t particularly kinetic or action oriented. It’s a slow moving, picturesque kind of series. A lack of fast-moving action animation is only a problem when a series tries to be such and fails. And Vinland Saga isn’t. That isn’t to say it doesn’t have it’s problems of course. There are a few wide shots that seem rather… flat, and lifeless. Stuff like the held wide shot of Thorfinn and Einar with no mouth, eyes or nose. Held for so long, with so little detail, it feels… off. Still, even with that and the lack of heavy action, Vinland Saga looks pretty good so far. Hopefully it doesn’t fall off as the story picks up.

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