Remember when I was wishing that Bell would fight someone other than the Minotaur? I got my wish – Bell is now currently fighting…an overgrown bush? It’s a pretty scary overgrown bush though, so all is not lost. Let’s get into this pair of episodes, which had plenty of good points (and a few small flaws).
Welcome everyone, to another episode of Yofulashi no Uta! I’m a bit late on this one, Path of Exile just released a new league and I wasted a day on that. Don’t worry though, the novelty will wear off soon and I’ll be right back on schedule. So without further ado, lets dive into the episode!
Starting off, Yofukashi actually moved this week! And it looked good doing it! I know that comes off as a joke, but seriously. Yofukashi isn’t what I would call “animated”. It exists primarily as a set of stills with pretty backgrounds, snappy dialogue and bright color palettes. So to see it move like this was a treat. It had to sacrifice some detail in places to do it obviously, forgoing some of it’s signature style. But I think that’s totally fine for a one-off treat like this. And I do assume it will be one off unless Yofukashi uses this as an excuse to start bringing more action into the series. I wouldn’t be against that necessarily, but it would have to be well considered before being thrown in. What do I mean by that? Well lets talk spoilers after the break.
It’s back everyone, Isekai Ojisan is back! It’s been to weeks without the seasons premier comedy. And what happens on it’s first week back? Well… It falls a little flat if I can be honest. Lets dive in and talk about why.
So like I said, I’m pretty mixed on this weeks Ojisan. On the good side, the jokes were mostly fine. Baseball terminology being scary, Mabel’s return, the ring joke again, etc. Even a complete repeat of making a girl fall for him, with a melting sword/heart metaphor in the background, only to completely undercut it with his own stupidity. Making her go from rejecting him to thinking she was rejected herself. It’s all strictly fine. I wish that Ojisan had some more original material this week, stuff like the Youtube ad crisis was absolutely hilarious. But this isn’t the worst rut to be stuck in I suppose. Sadly however, these were not all of the jokes in the episode. In fact there was one in particular that kind of put me off the whole thing: The rape joke.
Continue reading “Isekai Ojisan – 5 [That Reminds Me, I Almost Got Assassinated Once]”
When in your life you watch a show can matter just as much as the show itself. Perhaps you first found Tokyo Godfathers and its story of found family right after your parents divorce. Or Tatami Galaxy while in your freshman year of University. It could even be as simple as Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood being your first anime ever. The show might be good, fantastic even, but the when is what made it timeless for you. How do I know this? Because that’s exactly how I felt as I watched Welcome to the NHK. Created by Tatsuhiko Takimoto and directed by Yuusuke Yamamoto, with music produced by Masao Fukuda and animated at Studio GONZO, I give to you one of my new Top 10 animated series ever made. Without further ado, lets dive in.
Be warned, this review contains minor unmarked spoilers for Welcome to the NHK. It also contains major spoilers in some sections, but these will be heavily marked to avoid accidents. Additionally, this series contains depictions of depression, abuse and suicide, which I will mention in this review. You have been warned. Continue reading “Welcome to the NHK Anime Review 95/100 – Throwback Thursday”
Welcome back everyone, to another episode of RWBY: Ice Queendom! This week is actually a good step up from the last, in basically every respect. It’s not perfect of course. But there’s a lot I liked about it, so lets jump right in and talk about it.
Starting off, the animation. Let’s not beat around the bush, Queendom has been suffering here for a while and this week isn’t any different. The CGI continues to stick out like a sore thumb and there are some scenes I can count the frames on one hand in. To say Queendom looks janky at times would be a compliment. But, and this is a big but, this week actually had some fun stuff as well. From small parts of the train fight, stuff like Jaune’s landing and Yang’s short combination, to all the tiny Weiss’s running around. It’s the most interesting and engaging animation that we’ve had since the opening 3 episodes dropped. Does that make it incredible? No, not really. But a drowning man at sea doesn’t complain when he finds a half-full water bottle floating by.
Welcome everyone, to the halfway point of Yofukashi no Uta! I’m a bit late for this one, sorry about that. Busy week plus I have that Welcome to the NHK review to write. Enough excuses though, lets dive into the episode!
Starting off, this week was a mixed bag visually. Yofukashi had some really, really high highs, don’t get me wrong. Ko’s face reflecting in the lake, or his complete change in art style and heavy linework while dealing with Shirakawa were fantastic. I love those kind of striking scenes and hope we get more of it. But there’s also such as thing as “to much” and that’s what happened with the neon this week. The entire pool scene in the 2nd half was just that. To much blue, to pink, etc. It drowned out any other color and shading work done on the scene and made it a pain to look at any of the finer details. It matches Yofukashi’s aesthetic sure, but at the detriment of everything else. Hopefully this is a one off and they stick to more restrained amounts of color in the future.
Continue reading “Yofukashi no Uta – 6 [Might as Well Have Fun]”
Hello and welcome everyone, to the finale of Welcome to the NHK! We have a lot to talk about this week, some of it bad, most of it good. For those looking for the long and short of it leading into the final review? Good ending, good show, minor philosophical differences. And for those who want more? Well let’s jump right into it.
Visually there was some really good stuff in these two episodes. In fact, I dare say this finale is the best NHK has ever looked, with Tetsuya Takeuchi’s work in particular standing out. The way he, and others, brought these characters to life was just fantastic. I’m not just talking about bombastic over the top scenes like Sato running towards the cliff, though that was good. Rather it was all the smaller character moments, both before and after, that stood out to me. Sato and Misaki embracing in the snow. Misaki’s mother’s hair and clothing fluttering in a strong wind. The shock, grief, anguish and joy on their faces throughout both of the episodes. And all it pays off in spades! This really does feel like the end, and I think that’s important for a finale. Of course it was also all fantastically shot, as usual.
Welcome everyone, to the halfway point for RWBY: Ice Queendom! I’d say we have a lot to talk about, but if I’m being honest we really don’t. This was a pretty straight forward, and dare I say weak, episode for the show. Why is that? Well lets dive in and talk about it.
First up, Queendom looked pretty damn janky this episode. The closeups in the 2nd half were fine, Huke’s designs hold up when they aren’t moving. And a lot of the editing was snappy and creative as well. I loved hearing only one side of Yang’s conversation but cutting to the phone and back, making it clear a conversation was happening beyond just standing still. But the fights? The fights were bad. I’m talking full floaty CGI, bad composite, stiff movement bad. It’s funny that I’m critiquing a RWBY show for having CGI, I get that. However say what you will about the original RWBY , Rooster Teeth’s CGI has come a long way and looks way better than this. Combine that with it swapping between 2D and 3D and it stands out all the more. It’s disappointing to be honest. Where are my Nagata cuts?!
Continue reading “RWBY Ice Queendom – 6 [Do You Have a Plan?]”
We’re back at it, with Bell and Co. vs creepy green moss monster. This was a very straightforward episode, but it showcased some of DanMachi’s major strengths. Let’s go!
Hello everyone, and welcome to another week of Yofukashi no Uta! This week sees a much needed shift in focus from our male lead, Ko, over to Nazuna. We get a peek into what her daily life is like, and how Ko’s introduction to her life is affecting her. Is it good? Is it interesting? Well let’s dive in and talk about it!
Starting off, this week Yofukashi introduced me to an idea that I can’t believe I hadn’t considered. Do you remember when I said that Ko was being forced to choose between day and night? Akira and Nazuna? And how Ko has seemingly chosen the night, but there’s a chance he could bring Akira over as well? Well the opening of this episode made me wonder, is Nazuna being given the same choice. We see just how alone and unfulfilling her days are. How late she sleeps in, how inconvenient it is, and how little the sun actually appears to bother her if she can wake up in it. So is there chance that instead of Ko being dragged into the night, into becoming a vampire, that Nazuna gets dragged into the day with him and Akira? It’s still to early to tell but I like that the option exists.
Continue reading “Yofukashi no Uta – 5 [Well, That’s a Problem]”