Spy X Family – 7 [The Target’s Second Son]

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

Welcome back everyone, to another episode of SpyXFamily! I have another really good episode for you this week, a fantastic balance of comedy and wholesomeness, so lets jump right into it.

Like I said, I think this was another absolutely perfect episode of SpyXFamily. The balance of comedy to wholesome family moments was spot on. Giving us just enough to laugh at while still progressing the family dynamics. Meanwhile the jokes themselves were, once again, layered and filled with punchlines. The best jokes in SpyXFamily’s arsenal are the ones that play on character expectations, with multiple characters being present and having their own punchline, as well as audience knowledge of what is actually going on. As an example, lets take a look at my favorite joke of the episode: Anya apologizing to Damian while Loid watches on.

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Dance Dance Danseur – 7 [Ah, I’m So Embarrassed]

by Lenlo, posted in Currently Watching:, Dance Dance Danseur

Welcome back everyone, to another episode of Dance Dance Danseur. This week continues Jumpei’s journey of learning what ballet really is while Luou figures out the power of friendship! Or rivalry. Unsure which yet, to be honest. Regardless, lets jump into the episode!

Starting off I want to say that this was a very good looking episode. It didn’t have any big, flashy, explosive sequences like episode 5, true. However it did have a lot of incredibly solid character acting. Especially the Russian dancer! It’s very rare that an anime describes someone as “graceful” and then the animation actually backs that up. The way this guy moved was so smooth, it’s like he was animated on 1s rather than 2s. He certainly stood out compared to everyone else, that’s for sure. On top of that the scene of everyone doing pirouettes looked great as well. Obviously not to the same degree, aside from Luou who continues to be beautiful, but good nonetheless. I especially liked the focus on posture and axis for Jumpei, who has been struggling with the basics. More than anything though, I think this episode was directed beautifully.

Lets take a look at an example.
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Now and Then, Here and There Anime Review 71/100 – Throwback Thursday

by Lenlo, posted in Anime Reviews, Finished Series: Adventure/Fantasy/Science Fiction, Now And Then, Here And There, Reviews by Lenlo, Throwback Thursday

There are few anime that I’d describe as profoundly “uncomfortable”. I’m not talking about rampant pedophilia or the questionable relationship with the word “consent” in some series. I just ignore those. What I mean are works that, through their themes and stories, really make you understand what it means to live through these events. I’m talking about works like Serial Experiments Lain and its exploration of our relationship with technology. Or Perfect Blue and how it can feel to lose your own identity. And while this series doesn’t quite reach the same heights as those other two, it certainly makes a respectable try. Created and directed by Akitarou Daichi, animated at studio AIC and with music by Taku Iwasaki, I give to you the subject of today’s review, the turn of the millennium dystopian tragedy: Now and Then, Here and There. Without further ado, let’s dive in!

Be warned, this review contains minor unmarked spoilers for Now and Then, Here and There. It also contains major spoilers in some sections, but these will be heavily marked to avoid accidents. Additionally, this series contains depictions of rape and sexual abuse, which I will mention in this review. You have been warned. Continue reading “Now and Then, Here and There Anime Review 71/100 – Throwback Thursday” →

Spring 2022 Summary – Weeks 4-6

by SuperWooper, posted in Weekly Summary

Wooper: A midseason offering from Wit Studio is as good a reason as any to write a check-in post, so here I am. There are a couple other anime I’m saving for a rainy day (Paripi Koumei and Healer Girl), so no thoughts on those for now – just continuing my Kaguya-sama streak and revisiting my premature claim that Summertime Render would be tops this season. Hope everyone is enjoying their spring so far, both in real life and in the world of animation!

Vampire in the Garden 1

Turns out Wit’s new vampire show is a five part mini-series, so I’m only previewing the first part here. I was disappointed by the length at first, but even 12 episode shows can collapse under their own weight these days, so concentrating your ambitions into a smaller space seems logical. And Vampire in the Garden is an ambitious project, make no mistake – it’s set in an alternate universe and centers on a costly human/vampire war, resulting in societal stratification and technological advancements that slot neatly into its world. What it doesn’t offer is innovation, since it borrows heavily from other dystopian fiction, especially ‘humans vs. monsters’ series like Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress and Attack on Titan. There’s even a “wall of light” that keeps vampires out of humanity’s central stronghold – you probably don’t need three guesses as to where that concept came from. The story of a human and a non-human leaving their feuding tribes to search for a better life is similarly derivative, but Vampire in the Garden does a fine job selling the human side of things; Momo’s gentle temperament, love for outlawed art forms such as music, and fraught relationship with her mother leave her with few options but to flee her oppressive surroundings. We still need more details about vampiric society and Fine’s place within it, but now that they’ve escaped together, those ought to be forthcoming. I’ll watch this one until the end for sure, but based on the first episode, my expectations are set to “competence.”

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Spy X Family – 6 [The Friendship Scheme]

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

Welcome back everyone, to another week of SpyXFamily. This episode Yor struggles with her maternal feelings, Loid has a mental breakdown and Anya finally goes to school! Without further ado, lets dive in.

Starting off with the visuals, I am sad to say that this episode left something to be desired. Filled with a lot of still posing, sliding backgrounds and teleporting characters, it simply isn’t comparable to last weeks effort. This isn’t to say every episode has to be a sakuga fest, last week was a treat. On top of that SpyXFamily definitely tried to be smart with how it used its limitations. Anya teleporting around was used to emphasize cuteness while a lot of the still frames focused on the comedic facial reactions of the characters. This is all fine. I just think that some scenes, such as Yor saving Anya from the kidnappers for example, suffered from this more economic style of production. And that’s a shame.

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Dance Dance Danseur – 6 [Why Am I Doing Ballet?]

by Lenlo, posted in Currently Watching:, Dance Dance Danseur

Welcome everyone, to the halfway point of Dance Dance Danseur! This week we begin a new arc, Jumpei get’s chewed out and Luou becomes a tad more competitive. Interested? Then lets jump right in!

Starting off, lets talk about something I mentioned last week: Consequences. I said that I was annoyed that Jumpei hadn’t had any for that stunt he pulled on stage, and that I hoped they were coming. Well? Here they are. Much to my delight, despite how impressed Godai was by it, not everyone else was so happy. I doubt that the Moms pulling their kids out of the school will cause any lasting damage of course. The economic viability of the Godai school simply isn’t what Danseur is about. But that isn’t what I like about this either. What I like is that Jumpei is being forced to recognize the consequences of his actions. And as such, is seeking to not only rectify them but to ensure they don’t happen again. It’s a moment of possible character growth for him. One I’m glad to see Danseur picked up on.

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Legend of the Galactic Heroes Die Neue These – 31-33

by AidanAK47, posted in Legend of the Galactic Heroes Die Neue These

Well we are down to the second last post of this season…or at least I would say that but it’s been confirmed that we are getting another season of this so my job is once again far from over. Don’t take that to mean I dislike that this is continuing as four seasons is a massive rarity for most series and to see a show with the quality of Logh get it is well deserved. Moving on to the episodes It’s a bit odd to start with a staff officer giving a painting to a sickly man and a rather cryptic musing over how the officer was surprised at the lack of a pet in his room. I would say that this is a remark akin to “Grass is greener on the other side” as the sickly man claiming the officer as his ideal. So the remark about disabled individuals having pets who could do things that they could not is in reference to how the sickly man views the officer but fails to see that just like pets, there are restrictions to the freedoms given. As for Maries conversation with Reinhard, I feel she is giving Braunschweig far too much credit if she thinks he simply lost due to three things. He displayed incompetence in almost every area that it’s hard to even imagine how be could best Reinhard, in truth the only thing he succeeded at was pushing his subordinate to kill Kircheis which was mainly delagation. Though her assertion that an enemy was needed in order to grow a nation is a fascinating one. When you think about it this is similar to the idea of how competition helps to improve a product or service. If nothing threatens your position then you have no drive to improve and something which is a point of comparison. People have a tendency to place a group in an “other” category either by difference of opinion or status and part of what may drive a person is the desire to “Not be them” An enemy may be a good term for such a person or group and it’s an amusing concept to have something whose purpose is to prove you are above it. Nobody wants to lose or be beaten by something they have deemed counter to their core beliefs so it would be a curious thought that the strive for innovation and improvement be derived from a negative source.
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Now and Then, Here and There – 13 [Now and Then, Here and There]- Throwback Thursday

by Lenlo, posted in Currently Watching:, Now And Then, Here And There, Throwback Thursday

This is it everyone, we have made it to the end of Now and Then, Here and There. It’s been a wild ride, a tragic one to. Without further ado though I present to you, the final episode on this season of Throwback Thursday. And remember to vote on the next one in the poll at the end of this post! wink wink.

So yeah… the finale. I have to say that I was surprised. Now and Then ended on a much more hopeful note than I was expecting. I figured that it would go for the “Scare you straight” kind of ending. One where literally everyone dies and there is no happy ending. The kind that makes it painfully clear what happens if we make it this far down the path. Instead though what we got was much more bittersweet and hopeful. People still died, and we will talk about all of that, but it was mostly the old guard. The ones who were either complicit in the system or to deep in to be pulled back out again. Leaving all those looking for peace alive to build a future, for the most part. A sort of “It worked out in the end”, even with all the tragedy.

In some ways it was a bit more sudden than I was expecting, but for the most part it works. Now lets talk details!

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Spy X Family – 5 [Will They Pass or Fail]

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

Welcome everyone, to another episode of SpyXFamily! This week has everything. Action, wholesome family moments, a few jokes. It’s the perfect example of what an anime adaptation of an existing property could, and should, be. What do I mean? Well lets jump in and talk about it.

To say that SpyXFamily is getting a good adaptation would be an understatement. Kazuhiro Furuhashi and his team are going above and beyond this week, taking what was an otherwise pretty standard wholesome family chapter and turning it into an action-packed event. The whole sequence in the castle? With the balls, the quiz, the tower? That’s all anime original. The manga had the concept yes, the agents that got brought in and playing “Save the Princess” with Anya. But it only went so far as to knock over a table and call that a “prison”. The small fight with Yor was the only action the chapter had. So to see it expanded upon like this, to be turned into a sequence that can carry an episode, an excuse for absolutely fantastic animation? I think it just goes to show how dedicated this team are to making SpyXFamily a success.

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Dance Dance Danseur – 5 [I Can’t Die Now]

by Lenlo, posted in Currently Watching:, Dance Dance Danseur

Ladies and gentleman, this episode of Dance Dance Danseur might just be my episode of the season. There’s so much love here and we have so little time to talk about it, so lets just jump right into it!

Obviously the first thing we need to talk about is that beautiful performance. Danseur really came out swinging this week with this rendition of Swan Lake. Not in terms of animation sadly, we haven’t gotten much 2D ballet work since Luou’s gym performance in episode 3. Instead MAPPA used CGI for all of those scenes this week, and it was painfully obvious. They stuck out like a sore thumb anytime Danseur switched to a wide shot with multiple characters and complex movement. It’s a shame, definitely the low point of the episode. But even with those, what stuck in my head after watching wasn’t the CGI models. Instead it was all of the beautifully lit and detailed still frames. The expressions on Jumpei, Miyako and Luou’s faces throughout, and prior to, the performance. Or the incredibly framed full-body posing with extreme lighting and camera angles. These were all fantastic.

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