Kaizoku Oujo – 3-4
Wooper: This is one good-looking anime series. It’s got backgrounds that make you want to travel to the places that inspired them, character designs that make you hungry for details about each person on screen, and combat that showcases power and agility rather than flashbacks and hidden techniques. Episode 3 was the pinnacle of those last two traits, pitting several members of Team Fena against a crew of female pirates in a fight scene so smooth it nearly had me salivating. The Italian architecture of fictional city Bar-Baral served as an excellent backdrop for all the slicing and shooting on display, and montages of the characters’ sightseeing ensured there was plenty of eye candy during quieter moments. Not that Kaizoku Oujo turns down the volume very often – its nonstop comic relief is one of its only issues – but it’s a visual marvel at nearly all points. As Fena and company travel from place to place in search of info about her glass MacGuffin, the show is raising up striking antagonists and painting a picture of its alternate history’s politics, creating more and more reasons to keep watching. There’s even a bit of romance brewing between Fena and Yukimaru, the latter of whom attracted the attention of a sexy glassworker this week. Not even Joan of Arc’s name being invoked has me concerned about the show’s viability – bring on the next episode!
My Villain Academia (S5) – 21
Amun: This week’s My Hero Academia (or Villain Academia as this arc is called) has caused quite a stir – and not for good reasons. Debates between animators vs designed scenes aside, this episode….was a stinker. This overall season has been really odd – it’s a tale of two scales: the first half was a training exercise with no stakes and the second half has been a global conspiracy that threatens to upend society entirely. And if that wasn’t enough whiplash, we’re thrown a whole cast of characters, while following the training arc…of the bad guys? Now, on paper, that’s not a bad arc idea for a long running series. The issue lies in execution. I don’t even think this episode was that poorly written – I’m just missing all the characters I care about. Sure, I marginally care about the League of Villains – but the new Destro-whatever-meta-liberation-army nonsense? Not that interested. The elephant in the room on this one was the animation – it just wasn’t up to snuff. Judging from the outside drama, it looks like about half the frames were removed, which really hurt. You can feel the creative edits and last second bandaging that took place. This should have been a seminal episode for evolving quirks and Himiko’s break-out back-story. Instead, it’s a mess of pointing fingers and uncertainty as we head into the back half of this puzzling season.
Vanitas – 9
Amun: If My Hero Academia is a good idea with poor execution, Vanitas is an average idea with excellent execution. I have to give Vanitas complete kudos for knowing its strengths and sticking to them. This is not a complicated or terribly clever plot: these writers aren’t being intellectually taxed by any means. It’s the implementation – fight animations, world-building, or even the banter between Noe and Vanitas – that makes this show a treat. I love Vanitas’ overall self-awareness; this show trots out the expected troupes, then turns them on their heads. Case and point is our lovable, dogmatic Paladin, who is won over by Noe’s kindred idiocy – fantastic! The animation isn’t detracting (a common complaint for these non-franchise shows), the characters are loveable, the world is excellent – this is a certifiable fun show and a romping good time.
Re-Main – 6-7
Wooper: Spending a couple weeks away from Re-Main has put a big dent in my enthusiasm for the show. The first half of this doubleheader was a clear step down from everything that came before, but even yesterday’s character-focused installment left me feeling ambivalent about the series as a whole. I still remember the second episode’s promise to dive into the cast’s individual histories, and even though episode 7 continued that admirable trend, I couldn’t get into it. Maybe that’s because Jojima did too much explaining of his fractured relationship with his dad, or because the show over-clarified how Amihama’s sibling bond changed after his brother met Minato. That minor lack of nuance is something I know to expect from anime, though – my negative reaction to the previous week’s Re-Main probably just carried into this one. Episode 6 was a low point for a number of reasons, not least of which was the brittle animation (not a quality you want from a water-themed show), but what really did it in was the focus on the show’s least interesting character, Ushi. Whoever wrote this one had to lean on a false suicide scare just to inject some drama into the proceedings – that’s an episode-killer for me.
My Hero Academia is in a funny place for me. On one had I didn’t like that Bones was prioritizing the movies over the anime but on the other hand the recent arcs have been quite boring so in hindisight I don’t really know if it was the worst decision by Bones.
Chalk that one up to Toho’s ever growing and overbearing demands for the anime. Especially the decisions that keep getting made for it. The third film btw feels like it should’ve come out much earlier this year or last year until the pandemic put a blow to those plans, and now Bones is forced by Toho to restructure season 5 around creating hype for the delayed film even if it means stretching the pacing of the arcs they’re force to prioritize for the marketing to unbearable lengths.
So it sounds like Bones overextended and now they are in a tough spot. Not sure they would have done things differently since they’re basically just trying to make as much money as they can (as you would expect of any company). So basically its what my initial take was, that the fans are the losers here as Bones prioritized the movies.
The manga arcs are not bloody boring! MVA is a great arc but the anime has ruined it with horrible animation and poor direction. This is why I stick manga. Better art and pacing.
I’m not a manga reader, but MVA feels like a good arc with tons of potential. Just hasn’t quite hit its stride in the animation.
I do agree that Fena should really tone down the comedy a bit. Plus, Yukimaru is just an ass. Why does he even protect Fena when he constantly gets mad at her over everything? He even gets mad when Fena says she wants to be more proactive and useful, telling her she should just stick to being a damsel in distress! Come on, dude! He just screams edgelord to me. But other than those two things, I am enjoying Fena as a show so far.
Oh I love Fena just how it is – no need to change a thing. There’s plenty of dramatic and interpersonal tension, pretty scenery, good humour, submarine journey?! This is the best (I’m crossing my fingers for an underwater episode). Yukimaru gets a pass (barely, I’ll admit) from me, because I feel like he had a ton of trauma and guilt about losing his charge on the burning ship. Is he a well-adjusted, mature person? Of course not – but he is believable, and I value that highly in characters these days.