86: Eighty Six Anime Review 65/100

by Lenlo, posted in 86 - Eighty Six, Anime Reviews, Finished Series: Adventure/Fantasy/Science Fiction, Reviews by Lenlo

War stories with giant robots and a dash of racism are pretty common in anime. You have everything from classics like Code Geass, Gundam and Gurenn Lagann (depending on how you define “classic”) to the more cult-hit works like Muv-Luv and uh… Gunbuster? Can you tell I don’t watch much mecha? Regardless this year sees a new show try its hand: 86: Eighty Six. A Light Novel adaptation written by Asato Asato, created by A-1 Pictures and Directed by Toshimasa Ishii, Eighty Six looks to take an existing idea and perfect it. And judging by all the press and the reactions I’ve seen in the community it appears to have done just that. But does it deserve the praise and accolades it has been receiving? Let’s find out!

Be warned, this review contains minor unmarked spoilers for Eighty Six. It also contains major spoilers in some sections however these will be heavily marked to avoid accidents. Continue reading “86: Eighty Six Anime Review 65/100” →

Vivy: Fluorite Eye’s Song – 13 [Fluorite Eye’s Song]

by HelghastKillzone, posted in Currently Watching:, Uncategorized

There isn’t a weekly summary this week and after writing about it for two months, it wouldn’t be fitting to have nothing published for the final episode of Vivy. Many times before, I would see anime that have great opening episodes before crashing and burning as it crosses the finish line. Frankly, I’m just happy if a show could manage to hold itself together the entire way. Thankfully, Vivy managed to stick the landing even if it was predictable with its excellent execution of its themes and Wit Studio’s direction.

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Summer 2021 Season Preview

by SuperWooper, posted in Seasonal Previews

Lenlo: Spring 2021 had a lot of hopes riding on it, from sequels like My Hero Academia S5, Zombieland Saga and the final season of Fruits Basket to new adaptations like Super Cub, To Your Eternity and Shadows House. Even originals got a chance to shine with works like Odd Taxi taking everyone by surprise! Sadly Summer 2021 has none of that and might in fact be one of the emptiest seasons we’ve seen in awhile. Sequels like Higurashi are going unnoticed as the remake appears to have fallen flat, though some might be excited for another season of Slime Isekai. Meanwhile adaptations feel like they are scraping the bottom of the barrel with works like Bokutachi no Remake – the lone hope there perhaps being The Detective is Already Dead. And originals? Well originals are my sole hope for the season as Sonny Boy has me all kinds of excited.

Think I’m being pessimistic? Well read on, take a look and let us know down below what you think is worth keeping an eye out for this summer! You have no idea how much I want you to prove me wrong and point out some good anime to me. Please, I can’t have Throwback Thursday be the only good thing I watch this season.

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Middling Expectations

Peach Boy Riverside

Studio: Asahi Production
Director: Shigeru Ueda
Series composition: Keiichirou Oochi
Source: Manga

Mario: The Peach Boy Riverside manga is written by Cool-kyou Shinja, a creator involved in two other adaptations this season: Kobayashi-san Chi no Maid Dragon and Heion Sedai no Idaten-tachi (though they only did character designs for the latter). Now, if you’re expecting Peach Boy to be in the same domestic comedy style as Maid Dragon or I Can’t Understand What My Husband is Saying, you couldn’t be more off the mark. From the little I’ve read of the manga, this is going to be a straightforward fantasy shounen show with slightly darker and more twisted characters. Asahi Production is not a big studio name, and the same goes for the director, whose first series in the big chair aired just three years ago. Series composer Oochi is more prolific, having written for comedies like Hinamatsuri and dramas like Oregairu’s recent third season. Will he be able to pull from his experience in both of those genres to elevate Peach Boy’s middle of the road source material? The odds aren’t great, but only time will tell.

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Megalo Box: Nomad – 11/12

by Lenlo, posted in Megalo Box

Welcome back to Nomad everyone! Apologies for missing last week but work and Wisconsin called. Lucky for us though that these two episodes feed into and fit so well together because we have a lot to talk about. So without further ado, lets dive in! And be ready because this is a long one!

Since I missed last week I wanted to start this post off by talking about where Nomad is going. I’ve talked a lot in previous posts about my dislike of the corporate angle, and I stand by that! I think it, Sakuma and Rosco as a whole, are at odds with the story Nomad is trying to tell. But credit where it’s due, Nomad has at least worked it in well. It has done the best with a bad situation. Nomad has taken Rosco and, while they are still antagonistic, removed them from the center stage. Making the focus not them, but their effects on Mac and his family. How corporations take advantage of, abuse and ultimately throw away the average person who is simply looking for a better life. Just like Chief. Just like the immigrants and their theme park home. And that’s kinda cool.

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86: Eighty Six – 11 [Here We Go]

by Lenlo, posted in 86 - Eighty Six

Welcome all to the finale of Eighty Six! Or at least the finale of the first half since it sort of has a second cour? But it doesn’t have a release date so its in a weird place. Regardless, how about we jump right into it because I have a review to write after this!

So my immediate thoughts after this episode are… why? Why does this episode have to exist? Why could we not have ended last week, or the week before? It feels like Eighty Six added this episode, and the big fight with the 86ers, purely to have a “finale” filler episode. Specifically one with a cliffhanger for the next season. Despite the fact that we already had a finale and an epilogue to boot! About the only thing of value in this weeks episode was the second half regarding Lena. All of the first half, with the 86ers? That’s just repeating more “feel good” scenes that we got last week. It’s almost like it was supposed to be an hour long special instead of 2 individual episodes, so closely do they match. And as for the cliffhanger? Well… since the sequel season exists no one believes that, right?

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SSSS.Dynazenon – 10-11

by SuperWooper, posted in Finished Series: Action, SSSS.Dynazenon

Looks like Dynazenon’s format-breaking episode arrived in its tenth week, rather than its ninth. “Which Memories Do You Regret?” was a challenging piece of work, much like Gridman’s “Dream,” and though I don’t think this season’s experiment went over quite as well as the previous one, the shake-up was appreciated. It wasn’t just the ‘kaiju of the week’ formula that received an adjustment, either. The character designs were noticeably looser – more angular in motion, yet rounder (and occasionally deformed) in close-up. “More with less” was the animation director’s mission statement for this one, as moments like Yomogi bursting through the barrier to Yume’s past were made hectic by limited frame counts, yet he still found time to slow down for a sisterly heart-to-heart in the second act. This assortment of styles put me in mind of the late Osamu Kobayashi, who surely would have enjoyed this episode for its aesthetic detours. That probably means a lot of other people didn’t like it, but hey, Dynazenon wasn’t built to be a crowd favorite.

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Spice and Wolf S2 – 8 [Wolf and the Mysteriously Charming Traveler] – Throwback Thursday

by Lenlo, posted in Spice and Wolf, Throwback Thursday

Welcome all to another week of Spice and Wolf! This is a bit of an odd one as I’m currently writing it from the middle of nowhere Wisconsin. But hey, maybe that will grant it some extra spice, who knows. My physical location aside how about we jump into this weeks Throwback Thursday!

Starting off this is a bit of a straightforward episode. The plot still hasn’t really started and Spice and Wolf is still just laying bricks for what’s to come. But it does a decent job of presenting those bricks and making them interesting! The way it slow-rolled us on the fur for instance. Slowly introducing what is happening through tidbits of conversation between Lawrence and Holo. Reminding us of Holo’s advanced abilities, etc. Leaving us to figure it out and connect the dots before explaining it to us via the barmaid and then introducing how to exploit it through the mysterious guest, Eve. It’s nothing incredible. Like most building-block episodes, it feels rather slow. But just like how the last arc started, it’s worth will be determined by the payoff. Was it worth taking this long together to? Was it worth slowly introducing all this stuff? Only time will tell.

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Spring 2021 Summary – Week 11

by SuperWooper, posted in Weekly Summary

Wooper: We’re bringing back the pre-column author’s notes this week! Not for anything too exciting – just a heads up that there won’t be a recap post on June 21st, since that’s Summer 2021 Preview day. We’ll do a final Spring Summary on the 28th, though, before jumping straight into first impressions mode. Seasonal anime never stops running, and neither do we!

Vivy: Fluorite Eye’s Song – 12

Helghast: What kind of super AI records in a 4:3 format and has an antique VHS overlay when recounting Vivy’s one hundred year journey? With that kind of tech, maybe it came to the conclusion that humanity has become stagnant and that AI should replace them to continue to evolve much like how children end up replacing their parents in the long term just with killer robots and apocalyptic imagery. Speaking of killer robots, that entire mission could not have gone more poorly for Vivy and her crew trying to take down the Archive. Everyone is dead and humanity got its ass kicked by hundreds of thousands satellites falling from the sky. I’m glad that Toak brought some rifles to the party and there were some awesome sequences, including a fight with the archive that bordered on abstract art.

Unlike Teppei’s other works of Re:Zero, there are no more retries. The autosave overwrote the timeline where Osamu is still alive and placed Vivy at the door of the final boss. At least Vivy finally has an answer to her question of what her heart is. I suspect it has something to do with her own desires and dreams of protecting those close to her and conveying those strong passions through her singing. With next week’s episode title being “Fluorite Eye’s Song,” I certainly hope that it will be a banger to close off a spectacular original show.

Continue reading “Spring 2021 Summary – Week 11” →