Tag: Fall 2023

Jujutsu Kaisen S2 – 19 [Right and Wrong, Part 2]

by Lenlo, posted in Currently Watching:, Jujutsu Kaisen

Welcome all, to another week of Jujutsu Kaisen! I’m not thrilled with this episode, not because of any production issues surprisingly enough, its just narratively a mess. Why do I say that? Well lets dive in and talk about it.

So like I said, visually this week was fine. Jujutsu Kaisen is handling its behind-the-scenes melt rather well all things considered. This episode didn’t look great by any means, lots of the same cost cutting measures we’ve been seeing for a while and some rather uninspired shots. But by and large for a production that’s ostensibly falling apart according to its own animators, this episode wasn’t a chore to work on. There’s even some public tweets from the episode director, Naoki Miyajima, thanking the team that are generally positive. And it’s not like there weren’t good shots either, I can think of two scenes in particular stood out during the fights. If this is the worst Jujutsu Kaisen’s production gets, good on them. And by “them” I mean the animators working their asses off to make this production work. Treat your employees better MAPPA.

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Migi & Dali – 9 [Kill Kill Kill Kill Kill]

by Lenlo, posted in Currently Watching:, Migi & Dali

Welcome all, to an eventful week of Migi & Dali! So… so very much happened, it’s kind of insane. If you ask me it’s easily the best episode of the show yet, keeping just enough weirdness to be charming to boot. So without further ado, lets dive into it!

Starting off, god that was a wild episode. Where do I even begin… How about Reiko, let’s pick up with her. While checking in with Eiji
as Sali to find out why he saved “Hitori”, Migi ends up revealing himself and setting Reiko on Dali and the Sonoyamas. Why? To protect her secrets of course. It’s unclear which she cares about more, protecting Eiji from having murdered Metry or her own inability to have children. Which, tangent, I called by the way. I guessed back during the weird baby stuff that Eiji and Karen weren’t actually her kids. She’s been stealing the children of others to raise as her own. All the clues were there and it makes this reveal feel rather good. Getting back on topic though, at the end of the day what matters is that she’s willing to kill for these secrets.

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Dr. STONE New World P2 – 6/7 [Joker/Flicker of Doom]

by Lenlo, posted in Currently Watching:, Dr.STONE

Welcome all, to another late week of Dr. STONE! I’ll admit, I’ve not had much motivation, or energy, to write about it lately. Every time I think to I find something better to do. Still, the show must go on, so here we are! Lets dive into it.

First up we have episode 6, “Joker”. This one continues the conflict as our Kingdom of Science friends charge the boat. And if I’m being honest? Not a whole lot happened. So instead of boring you with a play by play, lets just hit the big ones, starting with Hyoga’s return. I had actually forgotten about this. Both that Hyoga was on the ship and that he returned in this arc at all. Despite that, I do quite like it. His return feels well done and makes sense. He really is the only person they have left who could go toe-to-toe with Moz, plus even as a villain his motivations don’t allow him to turn on them. He’s a man who does things properly, the right way. And Hyoga? He can’t deny, for all their differences, that Senku and the Kingdom of Science do things properly.

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Jujutsu Kaisen S2 – 18 [Right and Wrong]

by Lenlo, posted in Currently Watching:, Jujutsu Kaisen

Welcome all, to another week of Jujutsu Kaisen! The series has had a rough few weeks, riding that line between ambition and failure, all the while behind the scenes animators are one step away from revolting. And wouldn’t you know it? Eventually something had to give. Without further ado, lets dive into the episode!

To get started, despite that introduction this episode actually looked better than I expected it to. Hearing about the delay for streaming services, the displeasure behind the scenes, I thought this was going to be an absolute mess. Instead? It was only… sort of a mess. Despite clearly unfinished work, and a plethora of short cuts taken to get it out the door, I don’t think the average viewer would be able to notice what was wrong. That doesn’t excuse it, but it does go to show how even with a troubled production Jujutsu Kaisen is making it out the door. Whether or not that will last, there are still 5 more episodes to go, is another matter. But for now at least, it isn’t imploding as much as I thought it would.

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Migi & Dali – 8 [Two ≠ One]

by Lenlo, posted in Currently Watching:, Migi & Dali

Welcome all, to another episode of Migi & Dali! This week the twins split, one becoming two, each walking their own path. How will they manage without each other? Can they figure out who they are independent of their twin? And what about the murder of their mother? There’s a lot to talk about this week, so lets dive in!

This episode is all about Migi splitting from Dali entirely, the opening scene ending with Migi literally and figuratively shoving him into the darkness, consumed by revenge, while he walks out towards his newfound freedom. As silly and weird as Migi & Dali can be, that doesn’t stop it from having some fantastic visual metaphors. The way Migi & Dali portrayed his desire for freedom, how he took control of his life riding off into the rain with Shunpei dressed as the birds he loves so much, was great. For the first time he doesn’t have to be “Hitori” around someone, he can simply be “Migi”. And he looks so happy doing it. The fact this ascension ends with Dali’s fall, with the two who are one becoming two once more, was icing on the cake.

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Jujutsu Kaisen S2 – 17 [Thunderclap, Part 2]

by Lenlo, posted in Currently Watching:, Jujutsu Kaisen

Welcome all, to Jujutsu Kaisen’s swansong. One way or another this the beginning of the end for the season. Either it stays strong and Itadori saves everyone at the last moment or, much more likely, everything starts to fall apart, visually and narratively. We have a fair amount to talk about, so lets dive right into it!

Starting off lets just come out and say it, this was clearly meant to be an event episode. Something along the lines of Mob Psycho Season 2 episode 5, it was supposed to be a statement. And in a lot of ways, it was! This was one of the most ambitious episodes of the entire year, not just from Jujutsu Kaisen but anime in general. A star-studded cast of animators from Vincent Chansard and Hakuyu Go to Hironori Tanaka and Hayato Kurosaki, as well as many more, contributed to it. And unsurprisingly, that lead to some absolutely stunning cuts and incredibly evocative imagery. Sure it had some standard issues, like ghosting and dimming, but those are just what happen to TV anime, they aren’t MAPPA’s fault. But you know what is MAPPA’s fault? Everything else that held this episode back from being the event it was meant to be.

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Migi & Dali – 7

by Lenlo, posted in Currently Watching:, Migi & Dali

Welcome all, to another week of Migi & Dali! This week Eiji’s past is investigated, a betrayal is discovered and Best Girl makes a surprising return. For those who have kept up with the series, you can probably figure out where this is going. So without further ado, lets dive in!

At the core of the episode we have Dali and his goal of getting information from Eiji. How is he going to do it? Become his friend? Sneak around his house again? Interrogate his friends? Seduce… him? That’s right, Dali’s plan is to bring back Sali and go full teasing-dom on Eiji to seduce him into spilling the beans. I get it, if I was ignorant of the truth I’d fall for Sali to, Dali makes a sexy dark haired femme fatale. And it’s not like Dali will won’t go to far of course, all he needs is to get him alone to try some hypnosis tricks on. This is nice, it feels like Migi & Dali is coming back to the kind of weird I enjoy, the stuff that isn’t fetishy but still situationally funny. And it’s the situation, the consequences of Sali’s return, that makes the episode fun.

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Dr. STONE New World P2 – 3/4/5 [Deal Game, Test of Wit/Battle in Three Dimensions/Total War]

by Lenlo, posted in Currently Watching:, Dr.STONE

Welcome all, to an incredibly late post! I had was traveling last weekend decided to just merge a few weeks of Dr. STONE together. It’s one of the harder shows to write for, especially with episodes like 2 weeks ago that are basically just one big scene, so its easier to just merge them. Anyways, without further ado lets dive into these episodes of Dr. STONE!

First up we have episode 3, “Deal Game, Test of Wit”, which centers largely around Moz. As it turns out, he knew, or suspected, Kohaku and co were intruders the entire time! So when Amaryllis fled after Ginro and Kohaku were petrified, he followed her all the way to their cave hideout. And of course, none of them really have the ability to actually beat Moz. So the question becomes: How the hell do they get out of this situation? Enter Gen. As far as episodes go, this was decent. While watching Gen talk someone down was fun, it’s not really what Dr. STONE is best at, you know? We got minimal science, lots of internal monologues and face zooms, it just wasn’t exciting. Everyone knew Moz wasn’t going to kill them, this isn’t the petrification beam, they can’t come back from that. So there wasn’t to much tension there.

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Jujutsu Kaisen S2 – 16 [Thunderclap]

by Lenlo, posted in Currently Watching:, Jujutsu Kaisen

Welcome all, to another episode of Jujutsu Kaisen! This week was a bit of a banger with 2 fights concluding and villains slowly getting taken off the board. One by one characters are going down leaving us to wonder who will be left by the end. There’s a fair bit to talk about so lets dive in!

Starting off, let’s talk production. As a whole, I would say this was one of Jujutsu Kaisen’s most memorable episodes. The Jogo vs Sukuna fight looked fantastic, heavily stylized in ways I imagine some might not like, but for me fantastic. I love it when animators are allowed to do whatever the hell they want with a scene, and that feels like exactly what we got here. As was mentioned by one of our readers in the discord, Kimjosh, this episode, as well as the Choso one, was apparently done outside of the usual production cycle. This means that, by my understanding at least, they were most likely started earlier and given more time than is usual. Regardless, the effect on the episode was obvious. Literally the only bad things I can say about it, visually, is that Jujutsu Kaisen was once again cursed by Japanese TV anti-seizure laws. Damn you Porygon, damn you…

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Jujutsu Kaisen S2 – 15 [Fluctuations, Part 2]

by Lenlo, posted in Currently Watching:, Jujutsu Kaisen

Welcome all, to another week of Jujutsu Kaisen! This week is a fun one as Toji gets to go off and Sukuna finally makes his appearance! We have a lot to talk about so lets dive into it.

Starting off, lets talk production. Jujutsu Kaisen had a pretty rough time last episode, I don’t think anyone can deny that. So I was pretty nervous going into this episode. Luckily, as terrible as their scheduling and production appears to be behind the scenes, MAPPA pulled it together for this one. It looked great. Toji got to pop off. The only criticisms I have aren’t even MAPPA’s fault, it’s the TV station and their mandatory-by-law seizure prevention dimming and ghosting. That, more than anything else, is what held this episode back. Jujutsu Kaisen fans should look forward to the Blu-ray where that will all be gone. Animation aside, this was also one of the first episodes where I really noticed the OST. There were a lot of good tracks this week that fit their scenes well, from Toji to Sukuna’s arrival. To sum it up? Episode was a good time.

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