Kageki Shoujo!! – 04 [Tears Overwritten]

by Armitage, posted in Currently Watching:, Kageki Shoujo!!

After putting the viewers through the emotional gauntlet last time around, Kageki Shoujo returns this week attempting a more balanced tone in narrative, adding in bits of slapstick humor interspersed between moments of self-reflection and painful reminders, while focusing on Ai’s stalker and delving into the reasons behind his mega-fandom of JPX.

Some parts don’t work as well as they could have but the ones that do really put the series’ strengths front and center.
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Sonny Boy – 2 [Aliens]

by Lenlo, posted in Finished Series: Adventure/Fantasy/Science Fiction, Sonny Boy

Welcome everyone to another season of anime! This is a pretty slow one all things considered but through some clever word play, see “asking nicely”, I was able to get what I think is the most promising show of the season: Sonny Boy! So without further ado lets dive in!

Starting off lets talk about how Sonny Boy, with one of the more unique styles, looks . Character wise all the designs have low line counts and each section of their body is flatly colored. There’s no complex shading or patterned clothing, these are very simple and straightforward designs. In that way Sonny Boy reminds me a lot of Masaki Yuasa’s work and the freedom it grants him in their animation. Sonny Boy hasn’t yet done much with said freedom, a nice water splash on Nozomi, some nice character work across the episode and on Mizuho, but that’s it. Instead Sonny Boy has focused on evocative imagery and heavily stylized effects work. The blue fire, shifting sand or water around Asakaze’s landing for examples of that. And I have to say… I like it. I like the style and the unique scenery it brings and I hope for more.

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Summer 2021 Weekly Summary – Week 3

by Amunchet, posted in Weekly Summary

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.

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Kobayashi-san Chi no Maidragon S – 02 [Hot Guy Kobayashi!]

by SuperWooper, posted in Finished Series: Slice of Life/Drama, Kobayashi-san Chi no Maidragon S

After a week of the Internet wringing its collective hands over the “gift” given to Kobayashi-san in the previous episode, it only lasted for seven minutes of this one. I had little doubt that this adaptation would resolve the issue quickly (its first season apparently skirted a lot of weirdness from the manga, as well), but I’m pleased nonetheless. Dragon Maid is an anime with a lot going for it, but those positives are already difficult enough for traditional audiences to glimpse without the author’s fetishes further clouding their vision. Of course, we had to go through Kobayashi’s trials as the new owner of a dangling appendage first, with a new waste disposal routine and her roommate’s bountiful breasts to threaten the status quo, but all was resolved before long. I think we were meant to infer that Tohru shedding her precious outfit was what restored a disappointed Kobayashi to her former self – in the end she’s just a maidsexual programmer, regardless of whatever biological forces are imposed on her.

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Kageki Shoujo!! – 02+03 [Those Who Long to Cross the Silver Bridge | The Teddy Bear]

by Armitage, posted in Currently Watching:, Kageki Shoujo!!

When I was little, six or seven years old, I used to wonder where babies came from.

The story about a hardworking stork carrying them around had started to seem less plausible by that age. Moreover, our home didn’t even have a chimney! No, no, it just didn’t add up. I had realized by that time that mummy and papa were tricking me and not telling me the true story of how I came to be on this planet. So, one day, I confronted my mother about the truth. “I would be tricked no longer. Hmph!” I must have thought to myself. I remember pestering my mother till she finally gave in and told me that it was she herself who gave birth to me. That after she had married my father, she had gotten ‘pregnant’ and a whole nine months later I had come out of her tummy. Which, truth be told, sounded even more preposterous than being delivered by a stork. But since she assured me that it really was the truth, I reluctantly believed her.

I had asked her how does a person get ‘pregnant’ and she’d told me that, “After a boy and a girl get married and start living together and fall in love with each other even more, they try to show their love by making a baby.”

“But how do they show their love?” I had asked.

I remember the question flustering her for some reason and her only response being, “When you’re older, you would understand”. Heh, little did she know that I was a real smart kid. I had seen plenty of movies to know that when a boy and a girl were meant for each other, they’d share a kiss.

That’s how they showed that they loved each other.
Continue reading “Kageki Shoujo!! – 02+03 [Those Who Long to Cross the Silver Bridge | The Teddy Bear]” →

Summer 2021 Coverage & First Episode Awards

by SuperWooper, posted in Uncategorized

I’ll spare you the doom and gloom about this season’s anime lineup. Putting aside the dearth of worthwhile new series, summer is a time to relax and unwind, and it’s in that spirit that we’re only picking up three new shows: Sonny Boy, Aquatope, and Dragon Maid. Are there a handful of other bloggable titles among the weeds? For sure, but that’s why we have a Weekly Summary column, which Amun has volunteered to run this quarter. Apart from that, Star Crossed Anime’s next three months will be lighter than usual, but hey, fewer posts to read (and write) means more time to spend wrangling our unwieldy backlogs. Seasonal stuff will start coming down the pipe soon – hope you have a breezy summer.

EDIT: After a seismic third episode, it looks like Armitage now intends to blog Kageki Shoujo on a regular basis, so we’re one step closer to full strength. You love to see it!

Summer 2021 Lineup

Lenlo
– Sonny Boy
– New Throwback Thursday series (vote here)

Wooper
– Fumetsu no Anata e
– Kobayashi-san Chi no Maidragon S

Mario
– Shiroi Suna no Aquatope

Armitage
– Kageki Shoujo

Amun
– Weekly Summary column

Continue reading “Summer 2021 Coverage & First Episode Awards” →

Summer 2021 First Impressions: D_Cide Traumerei, Deatte 5-byou de Battle, Night Head 2041

by SuperWooper, posted in Some Quick First Impressions

D_Cide Traumerei the Animation

Short Synopsis: Handsome fighter fights some hands.

Mario: I’m most forgiving of fully-3D shows compared to the rest of the writers here, so I tend to be in favor of Sanzigen’s products, no matter how off-putting they look. D_Cide looks solid as I’m in tune with its aesthetic, and occasionally its use of color looks impressive to me. What I’m not sold on at all is the story, as so far it’s nothing to speak of. The main character jumps between dreams and reality – an intriguing plot in its own right – but sadly the show uses it more as a plot device to bring him to battle with CG monsters. The only storytelling beat where I feel the show gets it right is when our protagonist practices kick-boxing before all this happens. That scene speaks to me as I can see his personality right there, making his grief for his brother’s passing part of his routine, while at the same time foreshadowing his ability at the end. His war cry of “KNOCKER UP” kills the vibe a tad bit, but as things stand I am willing to give the show a few more episodes.

Potential: 30%

Wooper: Of all the stupid battle-oriented CG anime I’ve sampled over the years, D_Cide is among the stupidest. To provide a bit of context, I can’t decide whether it’s better or worse than this season’s Scarlet Nexus, which was terrible in its own right. Everything from the main character’s scalene triangle earring to the female characters’ overwrought designs to the good guys’ combat titles (Knocker-ups) are dumb with a capital “D”. The only thing I liked about the story was the main character’s martial artistry, which provides some insight into how he processed his brother’s passing – taking his departed sibling’s passion and making it his own. That fighting style is carried into his Knocker-up form, allowing him to punch giant hand monsters right in their smug zipper mouths. Those scenes are about as nonsensical as they sound, and the show’s flirtation with dreams and portals will surely muddy the waters as D_Cide progresses. Between its strange mishmash of visual ideas and its relative lack of interest in character building, there’s not a lot here to hope for. When the best thing about an anime is the ten second piano/guitar lick at the start of the OP, you know it’s a skippable experience.

Potential: 10%

Deatte 5-byou de Battle

Short Synopsis: A lone gamer dies and is summoned to a Gantz-like world for a battle royale (I made it sound more interesting than it really is).

Lenlo: I don’t know if I like Deatte or if it’s just one of the least-bad things I’ve seen so far this season. Visually it’s a mess. Deatte can’t seem to figure out how people move, how objects interact with each other or that desks don’t just fall through people. Meanwhile the characters are about as shallow as you would expect from a “death battle with super powers” style anime. Maybe some fun will be had with our borderline autistic MC who has no emotions and can’t view the world as anything other than a game, but I doubt it. No, the only value in Deatte will come from how interesting it can make its battles. The MC’s power is actually rather clever and I think if utilized well it can lead to some fun mind games. There issue there though is that I have 0 faith in Deatte to be able to avoid bullshiting its own system. For now though I can at least give it the benefit of the doubt in this drought of a season, and listen to some… interesting (?) cat girl voicework along the way.

Potential: 10%

Mario: If there’s ever been a subgenre that I don’t give a damn about, it’s Death Games. The premise for these kinds of shows is simple: you need to clear several missions, or you’re dead. While they provide many fun twists and turns, they suffer in almost every other arena. The characters are cardboard cutouts. The story runs on game logic, and has plot holes and inconsistencies all over the place. The lead boy is charmless and even unlikeable. The same extends to the whole cast and even the cat girl who pushes the boundaries of annoying voicework. Deatte 5-byou is a good example of all the ways this subgenre can screw up. It’s a silly premise with an empty cast and mediocre production. No reason to revisit this one.

Potential: 5%

Night Head 2041

Short Synopsis: Psychics time travel to a futuristic post-WW3 city and go up against a team of cyberpunk super soldiers.

Armitage: Apart from having a title that can be easily mistaken for a hentai doujin, this show doesn’t do a whole lot more to stand out. Still, it’s just the absolute mediocrity of this season that had me getting some sort of enjoyment out of its runtime. The premise is right out of a 12-year-old’s fever dream but apparently the writer who came up with that storyline forgot to think about any characters who would carry said story. That’s why most of the characters end up feeling stiff CGI caricatures simply present to list out names and motivations of other characters, most of whom never even get introduced during the premiere. The writing in general is very obtuse and expository and might very well alienate its target audience. The one positive is definitely the setting. “That’s cool and all, but make it cyberpunk” seems to be the new narrative model of late when it comes to entertainment media but thankfully Night Head 2041 does seem to get the environmental ambiance right most of the time. The CGI while still very noticeable doesn’t look nearly as bad as Ex-Arm. So that’s… good. I guess?

Potential: 35%

Lenlo: Night Head is a weird show. Visually it’s all over the place. The CGI characters, as CGI does in Japan, look stiff and lifeless 90% of the time. Meanwhile the backgrounds and general aesthetic of the show look quite nice! The lighting and diffusion, backgrounds, some fun camera shots/movements that can’t easily be done in 2D. Night Head was clearly envisioned as 3D from the beginning and makes use of that but is limited by the CGI anime pipeline. On the story side of things I think it’s… fine? It’s basically the X-Men, which I’m down for. But I’m unfamiliar with author George Iida’s other works, so I don’t know how it will pan out. For now though I’m curious enough to give it a shot, if only to see what the director can do in his debut.

Potential: 20%

Spice and Wolf S2 – 12 [Wolf and the Endless Tears] – Throwback Thursday

by Lenlo, posted in Spice and Wolf, Throwback Thursday

Welcome all to the final episode of Spice and Wolf Season 2! It’s been a long road to get here, 6 whole months of wolf waifu. While this may be ending however that also means its time to vote for a new series! You can find the link to that at the end! So without further ado lets dive in to the last episode of Spice and Wolf.

Before we get into the episode proper I want to talk a bit about my feelings on this arc as a whole. Don’t worry, ill have much longer thoughts for the final review, but this needs to be talked about. Because overall this arc feels like a rehash of the previous one. Except where the last arc with Fermi stopped just short, this arc seems to fully commit to the relationship. In a way that’s nice! I’ve wanted to see these two be in a relationship, to process their feelings, for awhile now. And while this arc finally gave me that, it did so by hitting on a lot of the same beats as the last. Sort of like a rehash or repeat of what came before except without the benefit of being the our first time. Want specifics? Read on and find out below!

Continue reading “Spice and Wolf S2 – 12 [Wolf and the Endless Tears] – Throwback Thursday” →

Fumetsu no Anata e – 10-12

by SuperWooper, posted in Fumetsu no Anata e, Series which were Dropped

After the severe disappointment of Fumetsu no Anata e’s late May to early June run, I wasn’t particularly eager to revisit the series, but I knew that its style of storytelling would lead to a conclusion for Gugu’s arc before too long. That conclusion arrived a couple weeks ago, and though it didn’t bowl me over like March’s sendoff, I was happy with it. (There’s your TL;DR if you needed one.) Synthesizing the content of these three episodes in a longer, more holistic piece would be ideal, but it’s been weeks since I’ve seen the older ones, so I’m just going to touch on the highlights and lowlights of each. Thoughts on the second half of Gugu’s story begin after the jump, so click on through if you Do Read posts that aren’t Too Long.

Continue reading “Fumetsu no Anata e – 10-12” →

Summer 2021 First Impressions: Shiroi Suna no Aquatope, Tsuki ga Michibiku Isekai Douchuu, Meikyuu Black Company

by SuperMario, posted in Some Quick First Impressions

Shiroi Suna no Aquatope

Short Synopsis: A failed idol and an overworked highschooler collide in a quiet, mystical…aquarium?

Mario: Ahh P.A. Works, how conflicted my love for you. Watching Aquatope, I have two conflicting trains of thoughts toward it: as the quality of the episode itself, and as an input towards the studio’s canon. As far as the former goes, they deliver an overall excellent episode. There’s an air of melancholy from the way the main character navigates this new world, or to be more exact, runs away from her own that I found believable, and the two main girls’ interaction so far sparkles with great chemistry. On top of that, it’s these side characters (don’t know if they reappear) that the main girl interacts with steal the scene they are in – special shoutout to the cheeky fortune teller. On the flip side, however, Aquatope has the same “feel” as P.A. Works other works, and the fact that most of their works start out strong, then crumble in the last half (last year’s Kamisama, the director’s last effort’s Irozuku just to name a few) doesn’t bring me much confidence in this. I’m afraid this is gonna be another case where there’s little plot to move forward, so the characters retreat to the variations of the same themes. Time will tell on that front, but my point remains that I keep my expectation reasonably medium so that it won’t let me down, hard, like their previous efforts.

Potential: 60%

Amun: I like most P.A. Works projects – well, more accurately, most of each P.A. Works project – and Aquatope is a welcome sight for sore isekai eyes this season.  This episode looked great – wonderful settings, great atmosphere, just a wholly enticing package.  I would be incredibly hopeful….except we just had Kamisama ni Natta Hi start exactly like this.  However, I’m seeing parallels to the more successful projects with the characters here – so far, it’s a pretty tight crew.  That’s good.  There’s also some mystical nonsense taking place – that’s bad.  Director Shinohara worked a good amount on Hanasaku Iroha, and I feel a very similar vibe from this opening, so there’s some real potential here.  Plus I’m enough Japanese to feel spiritually connected to fish and the ocean, so I’m really this show’s to lose here.  Come on Aquatope, you can do it!

Potential: 75%

Tsuki ga Michibiku Isekai Douchuu

Short Synopsis: Highschooler gets reincarnated into another world in Isekai’s latest shallow attempt at humorous meta-commentary on the genre.

Lenlo: Let’s be honest: This is just a crappy Konosuba/Cautious Hero/”Insert Isekai Deconstruction here”. Like these other shows Tsuki wants us to believe it’s different. That it’s aware of the tropes, that we are all in on the joke and that by acknowledging that fact we can all laugh at the meta-humor that is Tsuki’s main shtick. But like the rest of these Isekai Tsuki fails to realize that acknowledging the tropes and the jokes is not the same as deconstructing them. There are still levels, the MC is still powerful, there’s still a harem/waifu’s, etc etc. Tsuki falls into all the same traps on purpose but fails to do anything remotely interesting with them. Instead it approaches all of them with an on the nose and obvious sense of humor. And if you ask me? The humor sucks. There is nothing in Tsuki that you haven’t seen done better before. I don’t even like the other shows I listed here but at least they had the novelty of trying to do it first.

Potential: Watch anything else instead.

Mario: There are two contraction ideas that run through Tsuki isekai’s first episode that kind of negate each other’s power: that the show is meant to be a parody of the genre so it has the main boy character who can predict what will happen to him (mostly off the mark though), but at the same time, it sticks by the rules conveniently (as much as he proclaims otherwise, he’s still OPed as heck). The fact that despite all these it remains funny kind of speaks to its strengths. The satire humor is present there, where our man serves as a straight man that serves as good foil against his mean Goddess, the Dragon and the situation he ends up with. Should he remain helpless and have no clue how the new world works, it would bring something more interesting to the table. The ability he acquired – that he can speak other races’ languages – is interesting but yet to reach full potential. It’s a better isekai (which admittedly a low bar to begin with), and potentially a better show out of this underwhelmed season.

Potential: 30%

Meikyuu Black Company

Short Synopsis: Financial-bro gets reincarnated and has to do manual labor.  

Amun: So this is a strange trend I’ve noticed gaining some traction: anti-heroes.  Not like “shades of grey” – no, these are just terrible human beings who we have to follow around for a story.  Sometimes, it’s funny.  Last season was Sentouin, Hakenshimasu! which had a few bright spots.  No such luck with Meikyuu Black Company – this is a drab 20 minutes.  Animators’ wrists were worn for the creation of this.  Can you believe that?  They could have done another season of Heaven’s Memo Pad (never going to give that up), but nope – we get this instead.

Potential: Please make it stop.

Armitage: Okay, yeah. This is bad. This is Isekai satire done so black that its stains never wash off. Or at least I think it’s a satire? Though I might very well be giving the show too much credit because on face value, this is a story focusing on a downright hateable character. The protagonist, a self-made, high-functioning, multi-billionaire NEET feels like he’s always looking down on everyone including the audience. Instead of trying to make him stand out as much as possible the show goes so over the top with his mannerisms and monologues that it makes you want to quit watching this premiere after 5 minutes of maniacal screaming. But I am a professional who does her job judiciously, so I stuck with it to the bitter end. See, lovely reader? This is the kind of thing we put ourselves through so you don’t have to.

Potential: Advil needed.