Tag: anime

Welcome to the NHK – 1/2 [Welcome to the Project!/Welcome to the Creator!] – Throwback Thursday

by Lenlo, posted in Currently Watching:, Welcome to the NHK

Hello everyone! Welcome back to another season of Throwback Thursday. This time we are watching the otaku-fueled think piece Welcome to the NHK. There’s a lot going on here, with a lot to talk about, so lets jump right in to it!

First up we need to talk visuals. While the animation isn’t anything to write home about, Yuusuke Yamamoto’s direction does a lot to cover for that. NHK has some pretty creative visual metaphors, augmented with some snappy direction and scene editing. I’m talking about creative camera angles or smart use of close ups and expressive faces to really sell a scene. I especially like the detail put into the environment, really hammering home the listless and stagnant nature of the Hikikomori lifestyle. Aside from a few overly perverted scenes, which if we are being honest fit into the Otaku headspace very easily, I think NHK earns passing marks. And maybe, as we leave the house and get out more, the animation will have more room to shine and we can see more of those detailed environments! Only time will tell. Now on to the spoilers!

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Spy X Family – 7 [The Target’s Second Son]

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

Welcome back everyone, to another episode of SpyXFamily! I have another really good episode for you this week, a fantastic balance of comedy and wholesomeness, so lets jump right into it.

Like I said, I think this was another absolutely perfect episode of SpyXFamily. The balance of comedy to wholesome family moments was spot on. Giving us just enough to laugh at while still progressing the family dynamics. Meanwhile the jokes themselves were, once again, layered and filled with punchlines. The best jokes in SpyXFamily’s arsenal are the ones that play on character expectations, with multiple characters being present and having their own punchline, as well as audience knowledge of what is actually going on. As an example, lets take a look at my favorite joke of the episode: Anya apologizing to Damian while Loid watches on.

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Dance Dance Danseur – 7 [Ah, I’m So Embarrassed]

by Lenlo, posted in Currently Watching:, Dance Dance Danseur

Welcome back everyone, to another episode of Dance Dance Danseur. This week continues Jumpei’s journey of learning what ballet really is while Luou figures out the power of friendship! Or rivalry. Unsure which yet, to be honest. Regardless, lets jump into the episode!

Starting off I want to say that this was a very good looking episode. It didn’t have any big, flashy, explosive sequences like episode 5, true. However it did have a lot of incredibly solid character acting. Especially the Russian dancer! It’s very rare that an anime describes someone as “graceful” and then the animation actually backs that up. The way this guy moved was so smooth, it’s like he was animated on 1s rather than 2s. He certainly stood out compared to everyone else, that’s for sure. On top of that the scene of everyone doing pirouettes looked great as well. Obviously not to the same degree, aside from Luou who continues to be beautiful, but good nonetheless. I especially liked the focus on posture and axis for Jumpei, who has been struggling with the basics. More than anything though, I think this episode was directed beautifully.

Lets take a look at an example.
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Spy X Family – 6 [The Friendship Scheme]

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

Welcome back everyone, to another week of SpyXFamily. This episode Yor struggles with her maternal feelings, Loid has a mental breakdown and Anya finally goes to school! Without further ado, lets dive in.

Starting off with the visuals, I am sad to say that this episode left something to be desired. Filled with a lot of still posing, sliding backgrounds and teleporting characters, it simply isn’t comparable to last weeks effort. This isn’t to say every episode has to be a sakuga fest, last week was a treat. On top of that SpyXFamily definitely tried to be smart with how it used its limitations. Anya teleporting around was used to emphasize cuteness while a lot of the still frames focused on the comedic facial reactions of the characters. This is all fine. I just think that some scenes, such as Yor saving Anya from the kidnappers for example, suffered from this more economic style of production. And that’s a shame.

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Dance Dance Danseur – 6 [Why Am I Doing Ballet?]

by Lenlo, posted in Currently Watching:, Dance Dance Danseur

Welcome everyone, to the halfway point of Dance Dance Danseur! This week we begin a new arc, Jumpei get’s chewed out and Luou becomes a tad more competitive. Interested? Then lets jump right in!

Starting off, lets talk about something I mentioned last week: Consequences. I said that I was annoyed that Jumpei hadn’t had any for that stunt he pulled on stage, and that I hoped they were coming. Well? Here they are. Much to my delight, despite how impressed Godai was by it, not everyone else was so happy. I doubt that the Moms pulling their kids out of the school will cause any lasting damage of course. The economic viability of the Godai school simply isn’t what Danseur is about. But that isn’t what I like about this either. What I like is that Jumpei is being forced to recognize the consequences of his actions. And as such, is seeking to not only rectify them but to ensure they don’t happen again. It’s a moment of possible character growth for him. One I’m glad to see Danseur picked up on.

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Now and Then, Here and There – 13 [Now and Then, Here and There]- Throwback Thursday

by Lenlo, posted in Currently Watching:, Now And Then, Here And There, Throwback Thursday

This is it everyone, we have made it to the end of Now and Then, Here and There. It’s been a wild ride, a tragic one to. Without further ado though I present to you, the final episode on this season of Throwback Thursday. And remember to vote on the next one in the poll at the end of this post! wink wink.

So yeah… the finale. I have to say that I was surprised. Now and Then ended on a much more hopeful note than I was expecting. I figured that it would go for the “Scare you straight” kind of ending. One where literally everyone dies and there is no happy ending. The kind that makes it painfully clear what happens if we make it this far down the path. Instead though what we got was much more bittersweet and hopeful. People still died, and we will talk about all of that, but it was mostly the old guard. The ones who were either complicit in the system or to deep in to be pulled back out again. Leaving all those looking for peace alive to build a future, for the most part. A sort of “It worked out in the end”, even with all the tragedy.

In some ways it was a bit more sudden than I was expecting, but for the most part it works. Now lets talk details!

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Spy X Family – 5 [Will They Pass or Fail]

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

Welcome everyone, to another episode of SpyXFamily! This week has everything. Action, wholesome family moments, a few jokes. It’s the perfect example of what an anime adaptation of an existing property could, and should, be. What do I mean? Well lets jump in and talk about it.

To say that SpyXFamily is getting a good adaptation would be an understatement. Kazuhiro Furuhashi and his team are going above and beyond this week, taking what was an otherwise pretty standard wholesome family chapter and turning it into an action-packed event. The whole sequence in the castle? With the balls, the quiz, the tower? That’s all anime original. The manga had the concept yes, the agents that got brought in and playing “Save the Princess” with Anya. But it only went so far as to knock over a table and call that a “prison”. The small fight with Yor was the only action the chapter had. So to see it expanded upon like this, to be turned into a sequence that can carry an episode, an excuse for absolutely fantastic animation? I think it just goes to show how dedicated this team are to making SpyXFamily a success.

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Dance Dance Danseur – 5 [I Can’t Die Now]

by Lenlo, posted in Currently Watching:, Dance Dance Danseur

Ladies and gentleman, this episode of Dance Dance Danseur might just be my episode of the season. There’s so much love here and we have so little time to talk about it, so lets just jump right into it!

Obviously the first thing we need to talk about is that beautiful performance. Danseur really came out swinging this week with this rendition of Swan Lake. Not in terms of animation sadly, we haven’t gotten much 2D ballet work since Luou’s gym performance in episode 3. Instead MAPPA used CGI for all of those scenes this week, and it was painfully obvious. They stuck out like a sore thumb anytime Danseur switched to a wide shot with multiple characters and complex movement. It’s a shame, definitely the low point of the episode. But even with those, what stuck in my head after watching wasn’t the CGI models. Instead it was all of the beautifully lit and detailed still frames. The expressions on Jumpei, Miyako and Luou’s faces throughout, and prior to, the performance. Or the incredibly framed full-body posing with extreme lighting and camera angles. These were all fantastic.

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Now and Then, Here and There – 12 [This Bloody Earth]- Throwback Thursday

by Lenlo, posted in Currently Watching:, Now And Then, Here And There, Throwback Thursday

Welcome everyone, to the penultimate episode of Now and Then, Here and There! This week sees… well, it sees a lot. Bullets fly, people die and Hamdo re-enters the picture. Is it any good? Lets jump in and find out.

Overall I think this was an interesting week. It doesn’t add anything as a follow up to last weeks topic regarding abortion, children, pro-life etc, but I think that’s for the best. I stand by what I said last week, how I didn’t agree with its politics or what it was trying to say, so moving on was probably the best option. The worst thing to come out of that was how, thematically, it feels a little disjointed. But once you get into the episode and start experiencing what is happening I think the shift is negligible. Basically what I’m saying is: Now and Then had a small bump last week but we are now back on track and stuff is happening. So lets talk about this weeks tragedies.

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Spy X Family – 4 [The Prestigious School’s Interview]

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

This is it everyone. This is, for me, the perfect episode of SpyXFamily. It had everything. Layered jokes, wholesome family moments, good animation. There was even a one-off episode “villain” to watch be defeated. My opening review is: I loved it. Now lets talk about why.

Last week I said I didn’t enjoy episode 3, for what I thought were pretty good reasons. The jokes were simple and flat, the episodes plot was largely toothless and the only engaging bit was the wholesome family moments. Well I am pleased to announce that, as expected, SpyXFamily fixes all of those in episode 4. First and foremost among those being: The jokes. The best way I can put it is that if last weeks jokes were bland, one-off, ham & cheese sandwich’s this weeks were multi-layered, multi-meat subs. Even when repeated there was enough going on that you found different flavors, different things to enjoy, each time they came up. Have I confused you with my weird sandwich metaphor? You blame the dinner I’m eating as I write this then. To help illustrate what I’m talking about though, lets break down one of the jokes after the break.

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