Re:Zero Starting Life in Another World 2 – 25 [Offbeat Steps Under the Moonlight]

by AidanAK47, posted in Currently Watching:, Re:Zero -Starting Life in Another World

We are at the end of an era or in layman’s terms we have reached the end of Re:Zero season 2 and it’s certainly been a journey. Unfortunately we have no word whatsoever on whether a third season is coming and I really hope they don’t leave us waiting another four years before anything comes. The popularity of Re:Zero makes it quite likely that another season is coming but nothing is set in stone until an announcement is made. If this is the final episode of this series then it makes for a rather underwhelming conclusion as it is definitely more of an end to a story arc rather than a full conclusion. Character arcs are certainly in a good spot and I suppose you could consider it a good stopping point as a lot of things have been resolved. That said the great Rabbit makes for a weak final encounter and there is clearly an air that there is much more to come after this fairy tale like atmosphere and villains yet to be dealt with. Though right now the question for us viewers is going to be what to fill the empty void it left in wednesdays. At least for me I can say it will no longer be eating up my entire evening writing a post on it if that is the only positive.
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Horimiya – 10-11 [Until the Snow Melts/It May Seem Like Hate]

by SuperWooper, posted in Finished Series: Romance, Horimiya

Sometimes it feels good to be anime-only. Everywhere you look, people are complaining about the cut content in Horimiya’s adaptation, and I’m just sitting here in blissful ignorance. The anime has never saddled itself with a particular schedule that must be followed at all costs – it tells short stories about whomever it wants, whenever it wants. That’s been evident in plenty of past episodes, but it was also clear in these two most recent ones. Miyamura’s reconciliation with a former bully, which was the show’s main focus two weeks ago? It only surfaces in episode 10 long enough to support a gag about his potential bisexuality. Remember Sawada, Miyamura’s neighbor from week six? She wasn’t given another appearance until this latest airing, and even that was frivolous in comparison to the tragedy of her brother’s passing (which was revealed over a month ago). Apart from the trajectory of its two protagonists, Horimiya has never been a particularly disciplined series on a narrative level – that patchwork feel is part of its charm. It did manage to fix its gaze on a small set of characters last week, though, in the resolution (?) of the Ishikawa love triangle.

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Winter 2021 Summary – Week 11

by SuperWooper, posted in Weekly Summary

Wooper: Having just published a beefy Spring Preview, some of us had no words left to dedicate to anime this week. Lenlo and I still had a bit of gas in the tank, though, so we teamed up to create a short and sweet recap post. If you’re still keeping up with winter’s mid-tier shows despite the distraction of a brand new season, this one is for you.

Heaven’s Design Team – 8-10

Lenlo: I know I’ve missed a few weeks of this but I promise it wasn’t due to a lack of interest in the show. If anything, Design Team continues to impress me with just how many ideas it has. Not all of those ideas are good mind you. For instance I wasn’t a fan of the “Honey I shrunk the kids” cross-episode skit. But for every failed reverse-aging storyline we have a tyranny of the mole rats or Whose Penguin Is It Anyway. And even then regardless of the skits’ quality the lessons they teach are always interesting. Whether it be explaining concepts of generational diversity and societal health through aging or the heat-sink purposes of penguin bone structure, Design Team delivers. And for what I considered to be a C-Tier show that I would probably lose interest in after 3 episodes, that’s pretty damn impressive.

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Spring 2021 Anime Season Preview

by SuperWooper, posted in Seasonal Previews

Armitage: Allow me the opportunity to be the resident hype-monger this time around and say that, in terms of the quality on offer, Spring 2021 is looking to be the biggest season of anime in almost a decade. Which I know sounds like a clickbait-y exaggeration and a notion that gets thrown around every other season just so fans can feel better about the sheer number of shows we end up watching each year and justify it by saying that “s’all good man!”.

But I have personally never subscribed to that notion. I have always held my head up high and never fallen so low as to put an anime season on the pedestal occupied only by the mythical spring seasons of 2007 and 2011. But you know, what?! This time, I’m doing it. And you couldn’t stop me even if you tried! Because this is my intro paragraph! Hmph!!! [composes herself]  Sorry about that. Fell into a tangent there. But yeah, the rest of the writers here on Star-Crossed and I are hella hyped for the upcoming season of anime. And if you’re not, then maybe reading about some of the shows we are looking forward to would help change your mind. Come get a taste of the good stuff!

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What will you be watching this spring?
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Middling Expectations

Zombieland Saga: Revenge

Studio: MAPPA
Director: Munehisa Sakai
Series composition: Shigeru Miyakoshi
Source: Original

Mario: Zombieland Saga’s first few episodes got off to a quick start by satirizing both the idol and zombie genres, but then it lost its footing just as quickly by becoming the very thing it poked fun at (and then there’s Koutarou). I certainly don’t think it has enough meat on its bones for a second outing, and while some plots remain open you could just as easily leave them as they are. From the look of the trailer, this second season promises to offer more of the same: shenanigans from the group with some interactions between the idol girls and some character-focused episodes. I’m actually waiting for more backstory for Tae (the one idol who still hasn’t awakened yet). If you’re a fan of the first season then there’s nothing that should stop you here, but others might want to approach it with caution.

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Jujutsu Kaisen – 23 [The Origin of Blind Obedience 2]

by Lenlo, posted in Jujutsu Kaisen

Welcome everyone to the penultimate episode of Jujutsu Kaisen! And this week I present to you: Megumi Fushiguro. That’s it. I don’t have anything clever here, this is Fushiguro’s episode and its pretty damn good. So lets dive into it.

As always lets start by first bitching about Jujutsu Kaisen’s production. Or at least that’s what I would say if it didn’t do a great job this week. Everything from the composite and choreography to even the CGI tracking shots were good. Whether it be the intensity of Gojo’s stare during Fushiguro’s flashback or Itadori running and spinning through the domain. It’s frankly amazing how much of a difference changing the environment you are tracking in can help. I’m sure you remember the forests of the tournament arc and just how… bad that looked. Of course part of that comes down to this room being a flat plane compared to complex foliage. But it’s not as if Park didn’t know what the environment would be like in each of these shots before planning them out. So let this be a lesson on using the right tool for the right scene.

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Dr. STONE S2 – 10 [Humanity’s Strongest Tag Team]

by Lenlo, posted in Dr.STONE

Ding dong the witch is dead… or someone is at least in this weeks episode of Dr. STONE! Lot’s to talk about, some new and some old, so lets dive into it.

As always I want to start with the production. Rather than talk about the combat being about as animated as it usually is though, lets talk about something positive: Lighting and shot direction. These are two of Dr. STONE’s biggest strengths and this episode continues that trend. Whether it be a beachside setting sun or Hyoga’s presence in the foreground of someone else’s shot, Dr. STONE had some great scenes this week. Seriously just look at some of these in the gallery above or the one-offs below. It’s amazing what even a diluted version of Boichi’s art-style can do. His thick and scratchy linework adding so much texture to the furs and outfits of the characters. I wish that Dr. STONE had kept up what it showed early with Homura. But at least it managed to hold onto the stills.

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Spice and Wolf S1 – 9 [Wolf and the Shepherd’s Lamb]

by Lenlo, posted in Spice and Wolf, Throwback Thursday

We’re back with another week of Spice and Wolf. This week Holo get’s jealous, Lawrence makes some business connections and a new waifu enters the fray! Who will win? Find out this week on Throwback Thursday!

This episode picks up right where we left off last week and to be frank? It wasn’t really my speed. The first half of the episode was slow going and I understand why. Spice and Wolf is introducing us to Norah, letting us get to know her and priming us for the arc to come. This isn’t automatically a bad thing as Spice and Wolf is all about slow travel and interesting conversation. But Norah doesn’t really have the same charisma as Holo and her presence makes Holo clam up. Depriving us of some prime banter, though we do get some about halfway in. That said, getting us invested in Norah early is a good plan if she’s going to be important later on. But this time is an investment and if Norah’s story flops or isn’t used then I probably won’t remember this episode fondly.

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Re:Zero Starting Life in Another World 2 -24 [Choose Me]

by AidanAK47, posted in Currently Watching:, Re:Zero -Starting Life in Another World

In the end they only played the new opening and new ending about twice in an entire cour, that’s got to be some new record. My dear readers we are right at the finish line of the second season of Re:Zero and I can finally go back into retirement…at least until the next season rolls around…or LOGHs next episodes…or Heaven’s Feel 3…this site just won’t let go of me will it? Well I wouldn’t be complaining if Re:Zero dragged me out of retirement again as if anything I pray for it. I will consider my year made if they announce a season 3 in next week’s episode because I have decided that I won’t be reading the light novels as I just find the anime far more enjoyable. I have chosen the path of thorns in that regard as god only knows how long it will take for this story to be adapted to anime, provided we even get the full story. That said, Devil is a part timer got a sequel announced recently after eight years of nothing, so there could be hope. Maybe even Spice and Wolf season 3 if we dare to dream.
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Winter 2021 Summary – Weeks 9-10

by SuperWooper, posted in Weekly Summary

Wooper: Spring fever has gripped us prematurely here at Star Crossed. We all blanked on this column last week, and I nearly forgot to post it today – our anticipation for the upcoming spring season is starting to overshadow our attentiveness to this winter’s offerings. We managed to throw a little something together for today’s column, so consider it an appetizer for the final thoughts we’ll offer in a week or two.

Reincarnated As A Spider – 11

Amun: This outing of Reincarnated As A Spider is mostly a flashback…about another spooky spider: the Nightmare of the Labyrinth. Biggest takeaway is that our spider hero-chan (pun intended) isn’t the first spider to use magic and be super strong – this is apparently not that uncommon in the new world. This episode felt a lot like busy work, as it sets up the season for the finale. Still, it handled it adequately, so I have no complaints – I also don’t have any heaping praises either.

Back Arrow – 9-10

Wooper: This show moves so fast that it’s constantly catching up with itself, or else abandoning all hope of doing so. At the start of these episodes, only a handful of people in all of Lutoh are aware of Princess Fine’s split personality; by the end, the entire kingdom has seen her evil alter ego. She phases in and out of it as though someone were flipping a switch, which makes about as much sense as the origin of her duel personas: the transfused blood of a morbidly obese puppetmaster named Rudolph, who selected her to be Lutoh’s ruler. There’s so much explanation required to coordinate these sorts of developments, and since the series is full of them, that means its scripts are bursting with expository dialogue. Back Arrow is so absurd that its attempts at rationalization are usually pretty funny, but I actually prefer when the show breaks its own rules with no explanation at all. Arrow’s Briheight growing wings and turning into a sword at various points throughout episode 10 are prime examples. It doesn’t make sense on a mechanical level, but neither does anything else, so we’ve got no choice but to accept it and move on (or else drop the show, which I suspect most people have done already).

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SK8 the Infinity – 09 [We Were Special Back Then]

by SuperWooper, posted in Finished Series: Sports, SK8 the Infinity

When I heard that SK8 would be getting a mid-cour recap episode, I figured I’d just delay my viewing of “We Were Special Back Then” and blog it during the show’s off week. Waiting may have been the wrong decision, though, as my interest in the series has dulled significantly since the last time I tuned in. This episode didn’t do much to change that, even with its array of crazy moves: wall kicks, handstand planks, steel beam surfing, and skateboards used as blunt instruments. To be fair, that last one did leave me grinning in disbelief, but there was a predictable air to the entire ‘Joe vs Snow’ race that sorely disappointed me. Whenever Joe pulled ahead via some feat of physical strength, Langa caught up as a matter of course, meaning that only the final minute of the race maintained any sort of tension. At one point Langa was trailing by a huge margin, having lost interest in the competition, when who should appear on the sidelines but his best friend Reki, screaming his name – and thus the gap was closed yet again. I’d be glad to see a nail in that trope’s coffin, but SK8 won’t be the show to put it there.

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