Star Crossed Anime

Vanitas – 05

Amun: (Sorry, sorry, I know I’m not Armi). Vanitas this week was worth talking about – and how it’s faring as a vampire show overall. Vampires are a genre I’d love to see a resurgence after quite a few uneven showings in the last few years. The genre’s cornerstone – Hellsing – is unlikely to be replicated as the successors, like inferior offspring, fall into several traps: excessive brain-dead gore (Hellsing Ultimate), failed humour (Blood Lad), a confused zombie show (Shiki), or a monsters ensemble – which is not actually a vampire show at all (Kekkai Sensen, Monogatari series). Proper vampire shows are still around – Mars Red from last season was a decent attempt that tripped on its own feet halfway through. Vanitas so far has a great setup and a superlative twist – vampire and vampire hunter team up to defeat the threat…only it’s not a vampire hunter, it’s actually a vampire doctor. The bloodsuckers, so often the perpetrators, are the victims here – this isn’t human vs vampire, it’s a complicated world of humans helping/hurting vampires who are helping/hurting each other. That’s an excellent premise. How’s the execution? 5 episodes in, my verdict is: good! Noe is a surprisingly interesting viewer vehicle – he clearly has his own demons and is certainly marching to his own beat. Vanitas is what anti-heroes should be: not complete scum without a single redeeming quality, but a flawed person with good intentions and complicated motivations. The villain is sufficiently spooky and the supporting cast fleshes out well enough – I’m really quite pleased so far. I think this episode also had a great use of violence for a purpose instead of just for shock-value – you really feel Noe’s personal involvement with curse-bearers. Vampire shows are going to be a bit rough on the viewer, but that’s the nature of the genre, and I think so far – Vanitas has handled it excellently.

Continue reading “Summer 2021 Weekly Summary – Week 5” →

My Hero Academia – 105

Amun: (Side note: reactions are too hard – I might do them again at some point). It has been a while since I wrote about My Hero Academia, so I thought I’d check in on Midoriya and the boys (no, that’s not a figure of speech, it’s pretty much just Midoriya, Todoroki, and Bakugo this season representing UA). Episode 105 – “The Hellish Todorki Family” – is an example of what I’m calling “sledgehammer precision painting.” What I mean by that – in any 13 episode anime, Todoroki Shoto’s character would have the subtlety of well…a sledgehammer. Over-talented, rich kid with daddy issues – wow, so brave. However, even a sledgehammer can paint fine lines if the canvas is the size of a skyscraper – MHA with its seemingly unlimited seasons has developed first-glance straightforward characters (Endeavour, you’re in there too) into an interesting story that grapples with real problems. I’m not saying it’s subtle – but it works given the huge body of work this anime’s produced. I think these depth-giving stories for the supporting cast is also important, since Midoriya’s quest to get stronger and fight worse villains isn’t going to keep us going for another hundred episodes. Also, props to Bakugo for getting Mapo Tofu – I love that stuff!

Continue reading “Summer 2021 Weekly Summary – Week 4” →

Amun: Hello! I’m your new weekly summary host, Amun. I’m going to be trying a little something slightly new: adding reactions to each episode we watch for the week. So without further ado, how’s the season going so far?

Re-Main – 2

👏Wooper’s welcoming!👏

Wooper: There was no third episode of Re-Main yesterday due to a scheduling conflict with the British Open, though I doubt too many Western fans were put out by the change. This series is years behind modern hits like Haikyuu in terms of its obvious character types and occasionally jarring comedy. It’s still out here dangling a cute girl in front of its male lead for motivation like a 90s sports anime, for crying out loud. Re-Main doesn’t know that we’re living in 2021, but I wish I didn’t either, which might explain why I’m somewhat fond of it. The amnesiac protagonist trick might be an obvious ploy to create an audience surrogate, but Minato has a great attitude nonetheless. His fun-loving personality and desire to help others are balanced by self-doubt and resentment that people expect so much of him in the wake of his accident, creating a character (and a storyline) that are enjoyable to follow. The other water polo boys are much shallower by comparison, but the quick montage of their histories near the end of the episode read like the show’s promise to explore each of their motivations in turn. I doubt any of those explorations will match Minato’s, but as long as the attempt is wholehearted, it’ll fall nicely in line with Re-Main’s scrappy retro spirit.

Continue reading “Summer 2021 Weekly Summary – Week 3” →