Tag: anime

Spice and Wolf S1 – 3 [Wolf and Business Acumen] – Throwback Thursday

by Lenlo, posted in Spice and Wolf, Throwback Thursday

Welcome back to another episode of Spice and Wolf! This week is all about the stonks as Lawrence and Holo talk market volatility, currency theory and the economic value of an apple. Confused? So was I, lets dive in.

Now it’s at this point that I have to admit something to you dear readers: I am not smart enough for this show. I don’t know economics, I didn’t go to business school, I can barely balance my bank account. I have a Computer Science degree for goodness sake, computers do my math for me. So when Lawrence and Holo starting discussing economic policy and warfare via coins I got a little lost. I had to actually rewatch some sections a bit to fully… not understand, but to truly “hear” it. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. I can’t predict where this silver coin plot thread is going at all because of it. But it can certainly be a bit of a chore at times to listen to. Luckily the back and forth between Lawrence and Holo is interesting enough, their play by play entertaining enough, to keep me engaged

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Jujutsu Kaisen – 16 [Kyoto Sister School Exchange 2]

by Lenlo, posted in Jujutsu Kaisen

Another week, another episode of Jujutsu Kaisen’s token tournament arc. I imagine it’s tough to follow up Yoshino’s arc, that was both emotional and hype. But I was hoping for something a bit more… poignant from Itadori’s return. Still, this week Toudou gained some depth and Panda got a backstory, so not all is lost. So without further ado lets dive in!

Production wise this week was an improvement from the last. Along with the fights being overall better choreographed, Jujutsu Kaisen also brought back some of the sakuga. It’s still a far cry from the series highs, but it makes for a decent time nonetheless. The continued use of the CGI environments for rotating camera shots is interesting, but the forest is proving to be a challenging location for it. Unlike the sewers or the highschool, a forest is a natural location. It doesn’t have the same rigid, geometric style to it as man-made locations. So when you start trying to render it in CGI, to rotate around it, the fake becomes very easy to spot. I think it has to do with the trees, their leaves and the general spread of color through the scenes. It’s not great, but Jujutsu Kaisen makes it work well enough.

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Dr. STONE S2 – 3 [Call from the Dead]

by Lenlo, posted in Dr.STONE

Welcome to week 3 of Dr. STONE! If you enjoyed last weeks emotional cliffhanger then boy do I have an episode for you. This week Chrome struts his stuff, Taiju gets punched in the face and Dr. STONE hits us with another tear-jerker of a climax. Without further ado, lets dive in!

Starting off, I can’t get enough of how vibrant and colorful Dr. STONE is. The colors always pop, especially when it goes all in on the big emotional moments. Yet it never seems to lose that thick line work that I love. Obviously as we zoom out to wide shots the detail decreases. We also see some increased CGI for some of the more mechanical science bits back at the village. But when it’s important, Dr. STONE never fails to craft some stunning stills. Add on to that the improved animation we have seen and it looks as if the production is in a very healthy place. I can only hope this holds true, because every week I find myself looking forward to more Dr. STONE. It’s not the hypest or most action packed series this season, but its competing for the most heart.

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Spice and Wolf S1 – 2 [Wolf and Distant Past] – Throwback Thursday

by Lenlo, posted in Spice and Wolf, Throwback Thursday

Welcome to week 2 of Spice and Wolf! This week Lawrence and Holo have a sleep over at a church, get involved in shady deals and lie to a pastor. So without further ado, lets talk about these paragons of virtue!

Right off the bat, Spice and Wolf surprised me this week. You see, I’m typically not a fan of shows that are 90% talking. Hell, I don’t even like Re:Zero that much and that one at least has some murder. But some how, some way, Spice and Wolf did a good job of making its dialogue engaging. The back and forth between Lawrence and Holo was rather nice. Their constant one-upping of each other, of poking and prodding to figure each other out. I think a good portion of this is carried by Ami Koshimizu’s voice work as Holo. Her inflections and the way she speaks ride this line between smug and playful really well, pulling me along through the conversations. I especially like when she drops the playful bit and gets… maybe not sultry, but its a fitting word nonetheless.

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Jujutsu Kaisen – 14 [Kyoto Sister School Exchange Event 0]

by Lenlo, posted in Jujutsu Kaisen

Welcome back to Jujutsu Kaisen everyone! We had a pretty sizeable break after a pretty emotional arc and its time to see what’s in store for us next. So without further ado, lets dive in!

Starting off I want to talk about what’s new this week, the OP and ED. Both were always going to be difficult to follow up, with the ED especially being one of if not the best of 2020. Rather than fight a losing battle with style thought, MAPPA has gone for something more heartwarming and it works. I like the use of the vertical camera and phone recording to really immerse us in Itadori’s perspective. Meanwhile the actual shots themselves are lit and animated beautifully, with Nobara’s reaction on the beach especially standing out. As for the OP, it once again has some stunning lighting and water effects. Its not as great as the first, with the song especially not doing much for me. But all in all I think it’s a perfectly fine OP for a new cour. But enough about that you want to talk spoilers.

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2.43 Seiin Koukou Danshi Volley-bu – 2 [The Best and Worst Playmaker]

by Lenlo, posted in 2.43 Seiin Koukou Danshi Volley-bu

Hello everyone and welcome to a new season and a new year! Lets hope this one is better than the last, eh? Now, with Haikyu over you may have thought you could escape weekly volleyball coverage, but nay! I have found a replacement and its name is 2.43 Seiin Koukou Danshi Volley-bu! But I’m just gonna call it Volley-Bu cause that shits long. So without further ado, lets dive in to Volley-Bu! Heh… it rhymes.

Starting off, I always have to talk about the production. Sadly though it seems as if Volley-Bu has taken a step backwards from the first episode here. The animation wasn’t great there either, with most of the actual hits and blocks lacking a lot of weight and impact. But the snappy direction made up for a lot of that and gave most of it a sense of momentum. This second episode doesn’t have that though. Most of the shots, the cuts, it all felt pretty standard and didn’t do enough to make up for the animation. Its understandable, volleyball is a very active and hard to animate sport after all, but it is a little disappointing. One thing I can praise Volley-Bu for though are the backgrounds. Maybe its just because I have a thing for snow, but they really are stunning, especially the early morning or late afternoon shots.

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Twelve Kingdoms Anime Review – 89/100 – Throwback Thursday

by Lenlo, posted in Anime Reviews, Finished Series: Adventure/Fantasy/Science Fiction, Reviews by Lenlo, Throwback Thursday, Twelve Kingdoms

In this day and age it is nigh-impossible to find a season of anime without an Isekai. From Konosuba and Slime Isekai to Sword Art Online and Re:Zero, they have invaded the medium. But the genre existed long before these more modern takes. .Hack//Sign did videogames almost a decade before SAO released its first light novel. Meanwhile Inuyasha did the same for fantasy worlds. Predating all of these though we have what can only be called an Epic in scale. Produced by Studio Pierrot during their golden years and directed by Tsuneo Kobayashi, I give you Twelve Kingdoms. Spanning 45 episodes, Twelve Kingdoms adapts the first 3 of 9 novels written by Fuyumi Ono. Novels which are still releasing to this day and that I would relate to Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time in scale and influence.

If that doesn’t excite you, doesn’t make you want to hear more about this incredible series, then be gone I say! But if your interest is piqued and you want to hear about this fantastical world and Nakajima Youko’s role in it? Then read on, and lets dive right into it!

(Disclaimer: I am working to make 50 the new “average”. 70 is not an average score people. 70 is above average. Carry on.) Continue reading “Twelve Kingdoms Anime Review – 89/100 – Throwback Thursday” →

Twelve Kingdoms – 43/44/45 – Throwback Thursday

by Lenlo, posted in Throwback Thursday, Twelve Kingdoms

Welcome all to the finale of our Twelve Kingdoms watch! It was a long road to get here, filled with self-discovery and political intrigue. Sadly, as incredible as the journey was, all good things must one day end. And this is that day. So without further ado, lets jump right into it!

Right off the bat I have to say… this isn’t how I would have preferred the series to end. Admittedly, following up episode 39 was going to be a tough task however you slice it. There was an air of finality, of release, to such a long an intricate arc that nothing was really going to match it. But to end on a recap of all things? It leaves a sour taste in my mouth, one that isn’t fixed by the ending of the actual arc either. It really feels like Twelve Kingdoms was given 6 more episodes than it needed, and so had no idea what to do with them. Either that or it was canceled when they thought they had more time. Because there was clearly more story to tell, and lots of setup to tell it. As far as what we got though, I find it wanting.

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Twelve Kingdoms – 40/41/42 – Throwback Thursday

by Lenlo, posted in Throwback Thursday, Twelve Kingdoms

Welcome all to the penultimate week of Twelve Kingdoms! It feels weird to be here, especially after how final that last arc was. But we have 3 more episodes to get through this week, this time featuring Shoryu and Enki! So without further ado, lets dive in.

My initial impressions of this arc are… ones of familiarity. Coming off of the previous arc, it feels like we have seen this all before. A troubled Kingdom, a rebellion, a disrespected Ruler. There are some changed details that make me curious of course. Such as Shoryu’s character, or how the rebellion is against the Ruler this time. But overall it largely feels like a retreading of the prior arc, at least on first impression. I would wager that Twelve Kingdoms is going to use this as a sort of commentary on the previous arc. To show us how such a thing could be resolved from the Rulers position, rather than participating in it. Unlike the last arc though, this one only has 6 episodes to gets message across and I cant help but fear it will feel… rushed. That concern aside though, there is a lot still to discuss!

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Jujutsu Kaisen – 13 [Tomorrow]

by Lenlo, posted in Jujutsu Kaisen

Merry Christmas everyone and welcome to the last post of Jujutsu Kaisen for the year! What a bloody episode to end on eh? We had action, we had murder and we even had a bit of self-reflection, and I loved it. So without further ado lets dive right in!

Starting off, god damn that action looked good. I continue to love how malleable/expressive Mahito’s body is and Hironori Tanaka did a fantastic job working with it. It helps that the man was also the episode director as I understand it, but still. The fluid movement, the sharp lines and heavy blacks. The man made even still shots look dynamic and captivating. And none of this is even mentioning the more surrealist bits that Jujutsu Kaisen continues to incorporate. All in all, this episode looked fantastic and made for an incredible finale. About the only thing I can really nitpick here is that the CGI used was very noticeable. There was a bit about halfway through where the blood/Mahito’s body was done in CGI and it sticks out like a sore thumb. Still, 20 seconds amongst this beautiful production isn’t enough to bring it down.

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