Chainsaw Man – 11 [Mission Start]

by AidanAK47, posted in Chainsaw Man, Currently Watching:

One more episode. Just one more episode and it’s finished for who knows how long. It’s funny to have something you have been looking forward to for a full year come to fruition. Course this isn’t the end of the story but it could be the end for now till we get that second season. Looking at things I feel the question of a second season isn’t a matter of if but rather when. For me I hope it’s soon if not just to get the rest of the story but also I feel that if Mappa continue to take on high profile projects then they could burn out their staff before season two comes, thus causing a decline in the quality we have not been seeing throughout this show. On that I must commend the staff for managing to keep this insane level of quality for an entire season. Most shows put their money shots in the first few episodes before the grind causes a animation downgrade halfway but Chainsaw Man remains the best animated show going.(Note that I have not watched Bleach or Mob Psycho and both those likely retain a high level of animation. Though due to bias I still put Chainsaw Man as king) Of course I don’t like that this is a contract which is likely taking away from many animators livelihoods. But well if we must have this as a necessary evil then I prefer this being animated over “I was a loser till I got isekaied into big boob land and now I get to flaunt my ego with powers that I in no way earned” show. It’s part of the reason I hope that the rumors of Mappa taking on One Punch Man season 3 prove false because after this these animators deserve a break and I don’t want them back till the rest up and be ready for Chainsaw Man season 2. I would like to believe that Mappa would be smart enough to not work their staff to death…I really really would like to believe that.
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Hikaru no Go Anime Review – 90/100

by Lenlo, posted in Anime Reviews, Finished Series: Sports, Hikaru no Go, Reviews by Lenlo

Slam Dunk. Haikyuu. Cross Game. Aside from being fantastic series in their own right, and being about sports, they all share one thing in common: Their success helped popularize their sport, both in Japan and the world at large. Slam Dunk has an actual basketball scholarship program named after it for goodness sake. They galvanized entire generations, showing them how fun and accessible these sports are, and how cool they could be if they played them. In a way, in some communities minds, they have come to define that sport just as specific athletes like LeBron James or Lionel Messi do. And today, I would like to introduce you to another series from this most hallowed of halls. Originally written by Yumi Hotta with direction split between Susumu Nishizawa, Jun Kamiya and Tetsuya Endou, animated at Studio Pierrot, I give you 2001’s Hikaru no Go.

Be warned, this review contains minor unmarked spoilers for Hikaru no Go. It also contains major spoilers in some sections however these will be heavily marked to avoid accidents. Continue reading “Hikaru no Go Anime Review – 90/100” →

Winter 2023 Season Preview

by Lenlo, posted in Seasonal Previews

Lenlo: Merry Christmas everyone! Or, depending on when you read this, Happy New Year! Some of you might be wondering why I am the only one on this preview this time. I’m wondering that to. Everyone’s pretty busy, yet I’m the one attending weddings and shit. Lazy bastards. Anyways, I won’t lie, this season isn’t looking to exciting. Part of that is that nothing would look exciting after that Fall season. From Mob Psycho to Gundam Mercury, Bleach to SpyxFamily, lots of big stuff there. Even things I don’t personally like, such as Chainsaw Man, are blowin up the internet. Suffice to say, Winter can’t match that. But it does have a few gems sprinkled in to at least make it worth checking out. Vinland Saga returns for its long awaited 2nd season, while Nier and Trigun are both making long awaited returns to the medium. On top of that, there’s a number of new contenders that have the potential to be great. Will any of them reach that potential? Probably not. But I can dream damnit! Enough with the preamble though, lets dive into some series shall we?

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What will you be watching this fall?
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What the Hell

My Life as Inukai-san’s Dog

Studio: Quad
Director: Takashi Yasudo
Series composition: Unknown
Source: Manga

The Premise: Man who is horny on main gets turned into a dog so he can be pampered by his crush.

Lenlo: Now look… I will admit that this is purely on the list because of horny. It’s just curiosity I swear! I want to know just how horny this thing can get. Considering the PV has her stripping in front of him and putting her between her legs to bathe him, I’m imagining a lot. But can we go even further. Why do they blush? Why do they get all flustered? Are they going to fuck this dog? I don’t know! But I kind of need to know. I need to see just how god damn degenerate anime can get. Because the original creator for this series is a hentai artist. They make doujins, that’s all they do. So how the hell this got picked up for an anime I will never know. But I want to know… Fuck… Am I the degenerate now?

Middling Expectations

Spy Classroom

Studio: feel.
Director: Keiichirou Kawaguchi
Series composition: Shinichi Inozume
Source: Light Novel

The Premise: Conflict-ravaged nations now deploy covert waifu operatives instead of missiles. Follow a team of absolutely hopeless girls as they try their best to complete… the Impossible Mission.

Lenlo: I won’t lie, this looks like your pretty standard “What setting can we throw cute girls into this time” sort of show. The opening PV seemed more intent on making sure we knew all of our available waifu options than it did introducing any kind of plot or narrative. On top of that, it doesn’t even look that good visually. Lots of dark shots, flat lighting, standard anime designs. The only reason it’s on this list is because I like spies, and I think the spy setting has a lot of potential that anime isn’t really tapping into with all of these shows. Maybe, in some hope against hope, Spy Classroom will do something cool. But I’m not holding out much hope for it to be frank.

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Mob Psycho 100 III – 11 [Mob 3 ~Trauma~]

by Lenlo, posted in Currently Watching:, Mob Psycho 100 III

Welcome everyone, to the penultimate episode of Mob Psycho 100! I apologize for this delay, I’m attending a wedding right now so writeups had to go on the backburner a bit. No idea when this will be out but I will try my best. Excuses aside though, lets dive into the episode!

Starting off, lets talk about the only real problem with the episode first: Suzuki. I was not a fan of him in Season 2. I thought him very simple, very dull, and generally not a great foil for Mob. And that carries over to his portrayal here in Season 3 as well. I am predisposed to not enjoy him. And this becomes a pretty big problem when you consider just how much of this episode was about him. Suffice to say, I wasn’t particularly engaged with him. Yet despite that, I think Mob Psycho did a good job of correcting its past mistakes and making me care about him. It focused on his relationship with his son. His family. The things he gave up for his power. It was… surprisingly poignant, and brought a lot of depth to his character that I wasn’t expecting. So good job Mob Psycho!

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Michiko & Hatchin – 7/8 [The Rain that Falls in Monotone/Black Noise and a Dope Game] – Throwback Thursday

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

Welcome everyone, to another week of Michiko & Hatchin! This is going to be a weird week since I will be attending a wedding when this goes up. Maybe it will mean that this actually goes up on time this time though, who knows. Anyways, without further ado lets dive into the episodes!

Starting off, this week I want to take the opportunity to talk about Michiko & Hatchin’s OST. I haven’t had the opportunity to go through it in full yet, I tend to save that for the final review. But this week definitely served to bring it to my attention, with tracks like “Desencanto” and, I believe, “Gagorra“. Now for those of you who read my Megalo Box: Nomad review this should come as no surprise, but I absolutely love Latin music. There’s a rustic passion to it I feel, a beautiful simplicity that speaks to the heart that a lot of more modern, urban music just doesn’t for me. So tracks like this, or what little I heard of “Temporada das frutas” before I turned back to avoid spoilers, are right up my alley. Hopefully Michiko & Hatchin can keep delivering on them moving forward, because I love it.

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Chainsaw Man – 10 [Bruised and Battered]

by AidanAK47, posted in Chainsaw Man, Currently Watching:

Welcome to the time which brings great joy followed by the hollowness of fulfillment and no, I am not talking about Christmas. Another week, another episode of Chainsaw Man and another realization that we need to wait another week to see more. Along with the end of the season to come in just two more weeks where I am not sure where I will give my fix for Chainsaw related entertainment. Well those are worries for the future and considering Aki is meeting the future devil that could enlighten us on a solution to this particular predicament. Everything remains at a pretty high standard with an ending that for some reason reminds me of the music video for Take on Me with its blend of real footage and hand drawn. Prehaps some could do a meme edit inserting the song just to see how well it fits? This may be the last calm before the storm we get this season, so we might as well take it in.
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Spy X Family – 11 [The Unwavering Path]

by Lenlo, posted in Currently Watching:, Spy X Family

Welcome everyone, to another episode of Spy x Family! This week is another example of the perfect Spy x Family episode experience. We got great action, incredible wholesomeness, poignant spy moments and fantastic animation. Despite my criticisms of some of the recent episodes, this is the stuff I watch this show for. So without further ado, lets dive into it.

Right off the bat, it’s obvious that this episode looked fantastic. Not just in it’s wild full-body movements during the tennis match, though those were great as well, but also the interesting camera angles used to frame them as well as the great effects work during Yor’s scene at the end. Touches like angling the shot through the sniper scope, closeups of the racket as we follow the balls path, etc etc. Simply put, this was one of, if not the most, visually engaging episodes Spy x Family has had across it’s 24 episode run up to this point. I know it’s not good to hope for this on every episode, it’s just an unreasonable demand. But god damn when Spy x Family wants to it becomes just as much a visual treat as Chainsaw Man and Mob Psycho this season.

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Michiko & Hatchin – 5/6 [The Saudade of Fools, Part 1/Part 2] – Throwback Thursday

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

Welcome everyone, to another week of Michiko & Hatchin! This week is our first 2 parter, so we have a lot to talk about. From getting more of Michiko’s past to Hatchin going out on her own, it’s all inside. So lets dive right in!

First up we have episode 5, “The Saudade of Fools, Part 1”. This was a really interesting episode, and definitely my favorite of this week. We get loads and loads of backstory for Michiko, not only arriving at her home town but meeting who raised her, seeing how she met Hiroshi, and learning how she fell into a life of crime. All the while we see the knock on effects of these moments in the present as Michiko returns to town with Hatchin. I cannot understate, I really really liked this. Backstory is generally hard to do in anime, and is often just a forced flashback during a climactic moment. And while this was a flashback at times, it was done via Michiko revisiting those locations in the present and remembering them herself. They had in-narrative effect on her own emotional state, making them feel so much more purposeful.

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Mob Psycho 100 III – 10 [Mob 2 ~Rival~]

by Lenlo, posted in Currently Watching:, Mob Psycho 100 III

Welcome everyone, to another week of Mob Psycho! This was an interesting week, a rather contentious one in fact. Looking around I seem to be the only person with a lukewarm impression of it. Why am I not super hyped? What could possibly have hurt it for me? Lets dive in and talk about it.

Starting off, this episode really isn’t what I was expecting. Now that doesn’t have to be a bad thing! Surprises can be very good in fact. If everything goes the way the audience suspects all the time, you will start to lose their interest. The issue here is more that Mob Psycho surprised me not by tackling something in a completely different way, but by avoiding it all together. What does that mean? Well we’ve known Mob was going to explode, it’s in the previews, the title of the show, it was obvious. The question was only ever why. I expected, and hoped, it would be because of Tsubomi. And that his final emotional hurdle would be dealing with rejection when he has faced acceptance by the rest of the cast across the season. I thought that would be really poignant. Instead? Instead he gets hit by a car.

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Chainsaw Man – 9 [From Kyoto]

by AidanAK47, posted in Chainsaw Man, Currently Watching:

I would say to avoid the episode preview for this week due to spoilers but by the time you see this that it would be too late. Though admittedly avoiding spoilers for this series has proven to be just as hard as expected. I knew that manga readers would have a hard time shutting up and efforts have been made (Like making a subreddit just for anime only fans) however It’s still egregious. I would say if you want to experience this blind I would say to go on complete social media and internet blackout. Well besides from your weekly post from yours truly of course. I ain’t joking by the way, don’t even touch youtube comments as I have seen bots posting ending spoilers in replies to every comment on an innocent Chainsaw Man video. We have people so committed to annoying people that they have created bots for it. Popularity can be a curse and while I understand they would be those attempting to deflate the level of hype surrounding Chainsaw Man, as even I think it’s gotten a bit out of hand, it’s still a dick move to ruin the experience for others. No matter what you always got the small few who ruin everything, before this was Attack on titan and even way before that was Death Note. I remember being spoiled on a certain twist and being gutted then. So for those who do it unintentionally I say maybe think twice before trying to refer to future events. For those spoiling for the laugh well…that says more about the value of your character than any insult ever could.
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