Tag: anime

His and Her Circumstances – 18/19 [Progress/14 Days, Part 1] – Throwback Thursday

by Lenlo, posted in Currently Watching:, His and Her Circumstances, Throwback Thursday

Welcome everyone, to what is a very important week for His and Her Circumstances. Why is it important you might ask? Because this week marks the departure of Hideaki Anno from the production, and the production then imploding upon itself. What does that mean? What does that look like? Let’s dive in and talk about that.

So, the production. Does it really look that bad? The answer: Yes. Yes it does. In fact it looks so bad that I almost didn’t believe it. I thought that this must just be for the opening recap, right? That’s why it’s literally sketches on paper taped to sticks being held in front of a camera, or live footage of the streets outside the production studio? But no, this was the entire episode. So the question becomes: What happened? Well the best I can figure, based on a small amount of research, is that this is the point where Anno simply left the production. Between recent (for the time) laws regarding anime production, pressure from the studio about removing sex scenes (Will get to that) and arguments with the original author, things were starting to fall apart. But the sad thing about it, to me? It wasn’t completely bad.

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Spy X Family P2 – 3 [A New Family Member]

by Lenlo, posted in Currently Watching:, Spy X Family

Welcome everyone, to another week of SpyXFamily! This week is the true conclusion and epilogue to the 3-part opening terrorist arc, and you know what? They did a pretty damn good job wrapping everything up. From the scary terrorists to Anya wanting a dog, there’s even a neat little bow on top. So without further ado, lets dive in and talk about it!

Starting off, this episode was a bit weaker on the production side than the previous one. Part of that has to do with how little action there was, which to be clear is totally fine. This wasn’t an episode that needed action, instead leaning heavily on it’s character interaction and, day I say it, narrative to carry it through. However the action that was there, such as Yor kicking a car as well as Loid’s shootout with the dog, just didn’t live up to last episodes hype. Ultimately this isn’t a huge deal, SpyXFamily nailed all of the important bits. But it would be remiss of me to not mention dip in what is most likely going to be one of the best overall produced shows of the season. Enough with the nitpicking production details however, how was the rest of the episode?

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His and Her Circumstances – 16/17 [Eternal Interspersions/His Return] – Throwback Thursday

by Lenlo, posted in Currently Watching:, His and Her Circumstances, Throwback Thursday

Welcome everyone, to another week of His and Her Circumstances! This post was written on a deadline, and I don’t expect that to change with Mob Psycho airing on Wednesdays now. I will not apologize for my priorities damnit. My inevitable fall into being more and more late for the next few weeks aside though, this was a pretty interesting week for Circumstances so lets dive right into it.

Visually, Circumstances had some ups and downs this week. Animation wise there was really only one scene that stood out, it once again being Tsubasa. But god damn did that scene look good. Not only because it was well animated, but because of the details and expressions within it. The narrowing of the eyes, her face shattering apart, how Tsubasa’s mouth ripped open. It’s just beautiful. So if it looks so good, where are the downs? Well that’s just it. The rest of the episodes didn’t move at all. They are more like slideshows than animation. Yes, the creativity within those slide shows is great. Circumstances has some of the best visual metaphors and facial expressions I’ve seen in a long time, just look at Tsubaki’s rotating flip-board reaction faces for a perfectly example of minimalist animation. Even with that however, it’s becoming noticeable just how little Circumstances moves.

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Mob Psycho 100 III – 2 [Yokai Hunter Amakusa Haruaki Appears! ~The Threat of a Hundred Demons!!~]

by Lenlo, posted in Currently Watching:, Mob Psycho 100 III

Hello everyone, and welcome to the premier show of the season, Mob Psycho 100 III! Some people might take issue with that considering some of the other big hitters airing, but this is my post not theirs so they can suck it. Enough with the rivalry though, lets dive into the episode proper!

Right off the bat, Mob Psycho continues to be one of the best looking shows of the season. The colors are bright and saturated, characters expressive, the movement dynamic. There’s no CG backdrops or janky crowds, just hand drawn goodness. Sure, it’s not polished and perfect. The lines aren’t neat and clean. But there’s a distinctly human element to it that I love. To paraphrase kVin, who often expresses the same feelings I have but with better words, it’s appealing in a way few things are and really fits what Mob Pyscho is going for. Combine that with the extensive use of eyecatches and this is some of the most visually engaging stuff I’ve watched this season. You could argue about Do It Yourself‘s expressive and polished visuals, or for Time Machine Blue‘s timeless minimalism. But for me? Mob Psycho is where it’s at.

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Spy X Family P2 – 2 [Disarm the Time Bomb]

by Lenlo, posted in Currently Watching:, Spy X Family

Welcome back everyone, to a new season and the continuation of SpyXFamily! This is a fun, though serious, week for the show, one I can proudly say I enjoyed a fair bit. Maybe time was all I needed to get back SpyXFamily back into my good graces, who knows. Without further ado though, lets dive into the episode!

Starting off, I love the more serious tone of this episode. The whole plot with stopping a terrorist threat? A spy, a dog and a little girl walk into a bomb before it blows up? I love it. This is SpyXFamily at it’s strongest for me. We get all the substance of Loid’s backstory and mission, his serious nature and the effects of war on simple people trying to live simple lives, while at the same time Anya and Yor fill the episode with levity and fun. Just enough that SpyXFamily doesn’t feel like a gritty war drama. What I’m saying is that this episode, in my opinion, perfectly balances SpyXFamily’s two halves and I really hope that we get more of that this season. This or more time at school, because it’s really hard to hate Anya episodes.

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His and Her Circumstances – 13/14/15 [The Subjectivity of Happiness/The Story So Far/What Can Be Seen Beyond that Voice] – Throwback Thursday

by Lenlo, posted in Currently Watching:, His and Her Circumstances, Throwback Thursday

Welcome everyone, to the halfway point of His and Her Circumstances! I have an odd week for you this week as we cover 3 episodes! Though if I’m being honest, it’s really more like 1 and 1/2 because of recaps. Regardless of the why though, we have a lot of content to cover. So lets dive right in!

Jumping right into things, first up is episode 13, “The Subjectivity of Happiness”. This episode is the conclusion to Tsubasa’s family struggles, and my overall impression is that it was good. Circumstances gave us a lot to think about with Tsubasa, continuing to recontextualize her earlier bratty behavior and help us sympathize with her. What’s nice about it though is that it didn’t attempt to excuse said behavior however. Circumstances was very clear about how much of a selfish brat Tsubasa was, both then and during this arc. The way she treated her father, as well as the prospective step-mother, was incredibly rude. But it was also understandable. And I think that’s a really important thing when making characters act like complete assholes. At least if you want us to like them that is. It wasn’t perfect, there were some bumps along the way for sure. But it was good.

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Yofukashi no Uta – 13 [Call of the Night]

by Lenlo, posted in Currently Watching:, Yofukashi no Uta

Welcome everyone, to the big finale of Yofukashi no Uta! Well… I say big finale, it’s barely even a finale. For all that Yofukashi has built up to it, it feels like barely anything has happened and I’m just sitting here wonder… is that it. Why? Well lets dive in and talk about it!

In case it wasn’t obvious, my reaction to this finale was very lukewarm. In a word, it was anticlimactic. And the best reason I can give for that is it feels like, with this finale, that Yofukashi has only just started. It took 13 episodes of meandering about to figure out where the show wanted to go. And right when it figures that out… it ends. Right when Ko has finally resolved that yes, he wants this relationship, its done. That’s fine, it needed to happen with how long the show took to get here. But personally? I was really hoping for some kind of confrontation to go with it. Something that would set up the future of the story, to make me excited to either go read it or for another season. Maybe Anko and Nazuna could’ve met, since both are already aware of each other. Something like that.

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His and Her Circumstances – 11/11.5/12 [At the End of the First Semester/At the Beginning of Summer Break/The Location of Happiness] – Throwback Thursday

by Lenlo, posted in Currently Watching:, His and Her Circumstances, Throwback Thursday

Welcome to the (almost) halfway point of His and Her Circumstances! This week sees us transition into a new arc, both for the show and the lead relationship. There’s a shocking amount to talk about this week so lets jump right into it!

Starting off, I need to gush a bit about how good Circumstances looked this week. It was mostly back-loaded into the 2nd half of episode 11, sure. But that 2nd half was an absolute joy. The eye catches, the expressiveness, the sheer amount of personality packed into each and every scene. From Tsubasa being a gremlin to Aya and Tsubaki being absolute terrors. That entire scene in the restaurant as they keep feeding Tsubasa more and more and more spoons. I’ve seen that scene, with no context, for years! And I never knew where it was from until today. It’s incredible how quickly Circumstances can go from well directed but barely animated to some of the best and most expressive character work I’ve ever seen. Makes me really concerned for just how far this show falls, based on what people have told me about the 2nd half.

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Fall 2022 Season Preview

by Lenlo, posted in Seasonal Previews

Wooper: Rare is the anime season that gets me interested in upwards of ten shows, but Fall 2022 seems to have managed it, even while packing itself full of shounen series. These aren’t your average battle manga adaptations, though – we’ve got the return of a former “Big 3” WSJ property, the third season of a fabulously-animated Bones show, and the TV premiere of what’s probably the hottest manga in the world at present. These shows are so big that I don’t even need to list their names (though you can find our thoughts on them down below), but there’s plenty more anime to enjoy starting this October, including continuations of megahits like Spy x Family, blog favorites like Golden Kamuy, and oddballs like Pop Team Epic. Fans of pop cultural institutions like Gundam and Urusei Yatsura can look forward to new series as well, for the first time in 6 and 40 years, respectively. I’m just scratching the surface here, but I can’t list every noteworthy new show in the intro when we’ve got the whole season preview to go! Let us know which of this fall’s many offerings you’re most excited for by voting in the poll below, and read on to see how we’re feeling about the last quarter of 2022.

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Middling Expectations

Urusei Yatsura (2022)

Studio: David Production
Director: Takahiro Kamei, Yasuhiro Kimura, Hideya Takahashi
Series composition: Yuuko Kakihara
Source: Manga

The Premise: A flirtatious high schooler tries to score with every woman he sees, except for the alien princess who lives with him.

Wooper: Urusei Yatsura is a massive deal in Japan, being the first and most enduring series by legendary mangaka Rumiko Takahashi, with an anime adaptation by national treasure Mamoru Oshii. It’s also the progenitor of a zillion romcom tropes, not least of which is the Magical Girlfriend, embodied here by the tiger bikini-clad Lum. Though most western anime viewers will probably recognize her iconic design, this 46 episode reboot will be their proper introduction to Lum and the rest of series’ expansive cast. Should we count ourselves fortunate that Urusei Yatsura is being remade at all, let alone by this particular team? That remains to be seen, but personally, I’m not feeling terribly optimistic – this is the arm of David Pro that worked on 2.43 Seiin Volley-bu, one of our least favorite anime of last year, plus the pose-heavy JoJo Part 5, the rigidity of which is completely opposed to Urusei Yatsura’s ideal look and feel. The 1980s show is characterized by total freedom of movement, with male lead Ataru’s contortions and Lum’s flight patterns being unbound by the demands of a typical anime production. That sort of flexibility is critical to selling the series’ crazy developments: spaceships crash landing on Earth every third episode, hot babes of various mythological races appearing in Ataru’s neighborhood, alien technology interfering with the characters’ lives on a weekly basis. Some viewers will find these ideas dated no matter how they’re presented, but there are surely just as many who will accept them if they’re given a proper visual foundation. We’ll have to wait until October 13th for our first look at how sturdy that foundation will be.

My Hero Academia Season 6

Studio: Bones
Director: Masahiro Mukai with Kenji Nagasaki as Chief Director
Series composition: Yousuke Kuroda
Source: Manga

The Premise: Season 6 of My Hero Academia. You know the premise by now. Superheroes and villains meet for a climactic penultimate battle.

Lenlo: Let’s be honest here, you know what MHA is, so let’s cut straight to brass tacks. Content wise, this season is just one big battle arc. On the plus side, cool battles! On the down side, I no longer have confidence in bones and Kenji Nagasaki to give those battles the attention and production they deserve. Oh sure, we will get the occasional Nakamura cut or something, and those will be great. But outside of those I’m just going to find myself looking back at Horikoshi’s art and wishing it could have gotten better. Combine that with a general decline of the narrative content as he starts to lean more and more into basic shounen trappings, no idea why maybe weekly serialization is getting to him, and I just don’t have much energy to be excited for this season. I’ll watch it for sure. But I don’t yet know if I’ll enjoy it.

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Yofukashi no Uta – 12 [My Mom’s Out Tonight]

by Lenlo, posted in Currently Watching:, Spy X Family

Welcome all, to the penultimate week of Yofukashi no Uta! Remember how I said last week was an important week because Yofukashi had split itself in two directions? Well this week is Yofukashi’s answer, and it’s a damn good one if you ask me. So let’s jump right into it!

Like I said, my immediate reaction is that this was a really good episode for Yofukashi. Up until now, I was concerned about what kind of finale Yofukashi would have. Would it lean more into the relationship and be a romance, or pivot to a more serious vampire narrative? Both are solid choices, but sticking in the middle would accomplish neither. It had to pick a side, and this week Yofukashi did just that: It picked vampires. Not only that though, it worked hard to fully transition us from a goofy romance into that choice. Now sure, it did so in a roundabout fashion. The way it initiated this transition with the sudden introduction of Anko was rather awkward. But this week took everything she introduced and then focused on it as much as it could. No goofy romance, no jokes to break up the tension. Just dedicated thematic exploration.

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