SSSS.Dynazenon – 6-7

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

I guess Dynazenon is still airing, huh? Not only that, it’s connected itself to SSSS.Gridman in explicit fashion, with two of that show’s half-kaiju characters appearing as older versions of themselves. Anti and Anosillus II brought new life to the show, I felt, breaking up the Team Dynazenon vs Kaiju Eugenicists stalemate that had formed over the course of several weeks. This series is still operating at a high level, visually speaking, but the story has been in need of new blood, and now it’s got two fresh sources. They even wore spiffy black suits, a la the Neon Genesis Junior High Students from Gridman, indicating that they’ve pledged themselves to the cause of interdimensional justice. I don’t plan to go over all of Anti and Anosillus’s dialogue with a fine-tooth comb and extrapolate Dynazenon’s conclusion (I’d need knowledge of the toku series for that), but there was enough written between the lines to assume that the Hyper Agent himself will appear at some point. I’m already looking forward to it, as the human drama has started to wear on me in spots.

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Megalo Box Nomad – 7 [El tonto que muestra su carta no es un payaso estúpido]

by Lenlo, posted in Megalo Box

Rwaaaarg I’m back with another episode of Megalo Box: Nomad! I know it’s late, blame the State of the Season and work for being busy. Do you know how annoying interfacing with a dying protocol like XMPP is? Anyways without further ado lets dive in!

And like usual what better place to start than with production? Except this week we actually have something cool to talk about! That’s right Nomad actually gave us a well animated fight for once and I loved it. It shouldn’t be, it makes perfect sense why, but it’s incredible how much good animation can elevate a sports series. Seeing Liu and Joe go at with such clarity and speed really sells how far above the rest of the competition they are. Whether it be Chief’s fights or Joe’s underground matches, all of those look like child’s play compared to this. Just look at the way Joe’s hair moves in the clip below the break as he ducks and waves through punches. It’s a very different presentation of Boxing to Hajime no Ippo’s jet engines and explosive power. I hope Nomad can keep it up, I would love to see more.

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State of the Season – Spring 2021

by SuperWooper, posted in State of the Season

Amun: Of all the authors here, I think I’m watching the most shows this spring (20), so it’s fitting that I lead us off on the State of the Season post. Despite having only one tent-pole (MHA), this season features excellent mid-level sequels (Iruma-kun, Zombieland, Fruits Basket, and SSSS.Dynazenon) plus some surprising originals (Odd Taxi, Vivy). There are a few duds – Mars Red, Jouran, Shaman King – but overall this is a pleasant, quiet season following up the monster of last winter. Just don’t look too far ahead to the barren summer lineup and let’s enjoy some nice taxi rides and robot uprisings.

What show are you enjoying that you’re not reviewing?

Amun: Honestly, I’m enjoying most of the shows I’m watching – I feel this season is solid. Vivy and SSSS.Dynazenon stand out particularly.

Lenlo: That I’m not reviewing? Odd Taxi has to be the pick for me. Aside from Megalo Box it’s one of maybe… 3 shows I’m excited to watch every week. Oh, I also binged the final season of Castlevania and while the story suffers from sequelitis god damn does it look good. So freakin good.

Helghast: Rammed through Invincible which is an original animation from Amazon and it was pretty good for an adult cartoon. I felt it dragged through its teenage drama for far too long but I can’t complain about having more subversive and violent superhero content.

Armitage: Megalo Box has been the clear standout. It’s even better than S1 and that was my favorite anime of 2018! Other than that, Vivy has been fantastic beyond my expectations and Odd Taxi has been the critical darling of the season. I do wish that Burning Kabaddi got more viewers as it’s a really solid sports anime. But yeah, that’s what I am enjoying the most for now. And let’s see, how many of these shows am I not reviewing this season? looks through notes  Oh. 😛

Wooper: It’s not this spring’s best show, but it might be my favorite: Mini Dragon, the series of weekly shorts leading up to next season’s Kobayashi-san S2. It makes me happy to see TV work from Kyoto Animation again, even if it’s just for two minutes at a time.

Mario: Since I blogged none this season, my “non-blogged” favorites are also my overall favorites, and I have two. I will talk about the other show in the section below, so I want to raise attention to SSSS.Dynazenon. I still feel the shifts between its restrained character focus and its extravagant tokusatsu battles are a bit jarring, as well as its shifts from hand-drawn to 3D models – but I feel for the characters’ struggles, and its dream-like weirdness still holds my attention.

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86: Eighty Six – 6 [Through to the End]

by Lenlo, posted in 86 - Eighty Six

I’m back with another week of Eighty Six! This is another good week for the show, I think it’s on a roll. From some great direction and lighting to more of the narrative goodness, Eighty Six brings it all. So without further ado lets dive in!

Now I’m sure some of you are getting tired of this, I talk about it every week after all. But I can’t not mention Eighty Six’s continuously stellar editing. Seriously these snap cuts are fantastic! Ripping off the post-it to the sound of a gunshot, cutting to a single falling petal? It’s so quick but so impactful. Or the scenes of Undertakers brother, at the start and end. Not to mention Eighty Six’s lighting or scenery. The green moon, while unrealistic, was haunting. And the way the cherry blossoms glowed in the moonlight, suffusing the scene with a pink glow. When focused anywhere other than the robots this show looks good. I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say Eighty Six is one of the best edited and looking shows of the season. Not animation wise but hey, animation ain’t everything.

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Odd Taxi – 06 [Let Me Hear You Say WTF?]

by Amunchet, posted in Currently Watching:, Odd Taxi

(Before anyone gets on my case, yes I know I’m using a different title than the official English one, but I think “WTF” fits more than “What the hell”, since it’s more local slang-y.  Call me dumb if you like ^_^).  This week on Odd Taxi, things get heated in da club…and the story comes together nicely.

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Spice and Wolf S2 – 3 [Wolf and Irreconcilable Differences] – Throwback Thursday

by Lenlo, posted in Spice and Wolf, Throwback Thursday

Welcome all to another episode of Spice and Wolf! Apologies for the wait on this one, I’ve recently discovered Pillars of Eternity: Deadfire and it’s taken a fair chunk of my time.  Not because I don’t enjoy writing these or because Spice and Wolf isn’t good, it is. But it scratches just the right itch for me. Enough about RPGs though, lets dive into this weeks episode!

And what better place to start than with me gushing about production again! I know I’ve done this before in the far flung past of episode 1 but seriously, I’m impressed. We are 3 episodes in to this season of Spice and Wolf and I’m pretty sure its already had more animation than the entire first season. From the large festival crowds dancing and cavorting in the streets, throwing wine on each other, to the more intimate moments between Holo and Lawrence in the inn. Even the small stuff like background characters cheering and laughing it up during Fermi’s challenge were nice touches. This isn’t to say Spice and Wolf doesn’t have stills or panning shots, it does. But they are integrated much more cleanly and have these fun animated scenes between them to break them up. It’s a small but very important thing to recognize I feel.

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Megalo Box Nomad – 6 [Aunque estés consciente de tu impotencia, Dios te ofrecerá su imagen para que la pises]

by Lenlo, posted in Megalo Box

Welcome back to Nomad! This is a bit of a late post, I apologize for that. Busy busy weekend. So how about we skip the preamble just jump right into it!

This is a weird week for Nomad all things considered. There were no huge revelations, no big game changers, it just sort of… happened. Effectively acting as a check-in for the rest of our old cast so to speak. This isn’t bad! It’s all useful and important information. Nomad uses it to remind us who each of these characters are with their new designs and to remind us of their relationships with each other. The only person we haven’t yet seen is Yukiko, and technically Yuri I guess since he hasn’t talked yet. We get to spend some time with Oicho, Sachio, Santa and Bonjiri as they hang out and discuss Joe. Mulling over how they feel about him, how they still care for each other, etc. This is all good stuff but I wouldn’t say any of it was amazing or standout.

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Spring 2021 Summary – Week 6

by SuperWooper, posted in Weekly Summary

Vivy: Fluorite Eye’s Song – 07

Helghast: After the mayhem of the Metal Float, this week honestly felt like a Carole and Tuesday episode with Vivy getting a hard reset back into Diva and getting back to the musical side of things with a special insert OP. I do like her personality change as it’s overall less stiff than her previous version. She feels a lot more human with her confidence and expressions of a veteren songstress looking to make it big beyond the main stage of Nialand. It even extends to her willingness to throw herself off the building in order to get more information when the AI cube of Matsumoto makes his return in an almost reluctant way. While the first half of Vivy had setpieces keep getting bigger and bigger with falling skyscrapers, falling space stations and an AI island gone crazy, the twist of Ophelia’s future sucide doesn’t seem to have that WOW factor but I’m sure the author has several surprises for the viewers to lose their minds over. I can think of why an AI might end their existence due to the fact that they have failed their mission. While this may or may not be the case with Ophelia, Diva has proven that such a thing is possible at the conclusion of the Metal Float mission. Having her come to terms with it when she regains her memories and seeing how that will play into preventing her AI younger sister’s sucide will be moving at say the least.

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