Tag: Summer 2022

Isekai Ojisan – 4 [You Helped Me Through Tough Times]

by Lenlo, posted in Currently Watching:, Isekai Ojisan

Hello, and welcome to another week of Isekai Ojisan! Apologies for the delay on this, its Otakon weekend which makes for a busy time for me. This was another decent week for Ojisan, a lot of the comedy still worked, but its a definite step down compared to the last episode. Why? Well lets dive in and talk about it.

Starting off, I think this was a decent week for Ojisan. Not as funny as last week sadly, mostly do to it’s overuse of the elf gag, but still solid. The issue is just that we’ve seen her so much by this point that we have gotten a handle on their relationship. It doesn’t feel like there is much left to learn about them, so unless Ojisan starts to progress it in a meaningful way than it’s just going to feel like its repeating itself. Only each time with slightly higher stakes and sexual tension. Is watching him completely miss the point and accidentally lead her on still a little funny? Yeah, it still gets a chuckle. But not as much as it did the first time. Or the time after that. Basically the joke is becoming rote, and that’s not good for a comedy.

Continue reading “Isekai Ojisan – 4 [You Helped Me Through Tough Times]” →

RWBY Ice Queendom – 4 [Ice Queendom]

by Lenlo, posted in Currently Watching:, RWBY: Ice Queendom

Look everyone, RWBY: Ice Queendom is back! After 3 weeks of no content, a new episode has finally dropped. And while the production leaves something to be desired, I actually liked the world that Queendom is setting up. There’s potential for something interesting there. So without further ado, lets dive in and talk about it!

Starting off, the aforementioned visuals! This week wasn’t anything impressive sadly. No big character or battle sakuga, nothing for the animation people to really whet their teeth on. The end had something akin to that, but the compositing absolutely ruined those shots for me. To be honest, the only thing that stood out to me were the backgrounds. And even then not because they were particularly special or striking. They don’t have the color of Yofukashi no Uta nor the detail of Made in Abyss. But they are also more than your usual stock fantasy town. There was enough effort put in to inform and reinforce the world building done throughout. It wasn’t spectacularly detailed sure, but there was at least an attempt. And that’s something I can appreciate when an episode has so little else going on visually.

Continue reading “RWBY Ice Queendom – 4 [Ice Queendom]” →

Yofukashi no Uta – 3 [A Lot Came Out]

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

Hello everyone, and welcome to another episode of Yofukashi no Uta, AKA Call of the Night! That name is never not going to be a mouthful, I swear. Content wise this week was a tad middling for me despite an otherwise good idea. Why? Well lets dive in and talk about that.

First off, a visual nitpick. You know by now that I think Yofukashi looks pretty good. Not from animation, it’s pretty basic there, but because of it’s backgrounds and color palette. I absolutely love the neon. But I noticed something… off this week. The foliage? The greenery? Everything that isn’t a building? None of that is really getting touched by the same neon lighting as the buildings. As such it results in a bunch of seemingly dark splotches in an otherwise bright frame. This isn’t a huge deal I suppose, it took me 3 episodes to notice so it’s obviously not a glaring issue. But now that I’ve seen it I’m afraid I won’t be able to unsee it. Hopefully it’s not to much of a problem.

Continue reading “Yofukashi no Uta – 3 [A Lot Came Out]” →

Isekai Ojisan – 3 [I’m Your Un―…Aunt, Dear]

by Lenlo, posted in Currently Watching:, Isekai Ojisan

Welcome back everyone, to another week of Isekai Ojisan! This week we have more subversive isekai humor, vtubers and… wait a second. Is that a joke about the 2018 Youtube ad revenue change? And… and wholesome interactions? Oh no… I think this episode might be good. How about we dive in and talk about that?

So like I said, this episode was actually really funny for me. This is, without question, the most an anime has made me laugh in a long time. Not ironically, not because the contents were so bad it was good. The jokes were just legitimately well crafted. You know last week when I said that Ojisan’s humor was going to get old fast if it didn’t do something? That subverting modern Isekai expectations and making the same gag about the lead having magic in the real world would get old? Well it seems that the author of Ojisan had always figured that out. Because not only did it make some new jokes, though many of the old staples were present as well, but it went deeper with them than I could have ever imagined it would. Like seriously, who makes half an episode about the 2018 Youtube Ad Revenue change?

Continue reading “Isekai Ojisan – 3 [I’m Your Un―…Aunt, Dear]” →

Yofukashi no Uta – 2 [Do You Do LINE]

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

Hello everyone, and welcome to my last show for the season, Yofukashi no Uta AKA Call of the Night. It’s a cute series, but I’m sure you all have other questions first, such as “Where the hell is the seasonal coverage post”. Well I’m wondering that to, so don’t worry. Currently waiting on some last minute additions from the other writers, so it will go out when it goes out. Don’t worry though, I’m going to keep a consistent schedule with my 3 (4?) series. So without further ado, lets dive into some late night vampire sexy times!

Starting off, Yofukashi continues to look good I think. There are some issues here and there with the composite, the characters feel very out of place at times. But I absolutely love the neon color palette. When combined with the darker, flatter backgrounds it lets the colors really pop. On top of that there are some really cool shots peppered throughout, even if the animation isn’t anything impressive in them. My only real issue right now is that some of the colors feel… off. My friend described the yellow ones in particular as a “piss filter” and I can’t get it out of my head. They really do look that unhealthy, questionable shade and simply don’t look as good as the blues, greens and purples. And sadly? I don’t think they are going away any time soon. At least the OST is fire, right?

Continue reading “Yofukashi no Uta – 2 [Do You Do LINE]” →

Isekai Ojisan – 2 [“Guardian Heroes” Shoulda Been Number One!]

by Lenlo, posted in Currently Watching:, Isekai Ojisan

Hello everyone, and welcome to what is technically the 2nd show I’m covering of the season. RWBY preaired 3 episodes though, and that’s cheating. Anyways, this week Isekai Ojisan continues to riff on the Isekai genre while also introducing a new character! Is it good? Sorta. Will it last? Let’s jump in and talk about that.

The core thrust of Isekai Ojisan is riffing on Isekai as a genre. Taking shots at every character and story trope it can. And for episode 1, this was pretty funny! I had a good time. But it has already, by the 2nd episode, started go stale. It feels like Isekai Ojisan only really has 2 jokes: Old things that the Uncle remembers that are no longer around, and screwups within the fantasy world. Now I want to be clear, this is fine if all you want is a few chuckles. Even telling the same joke for 12 episodes will probably get one every now and then even when I know it’s coming. But if you want to truly succeed as a comedy? Then you have to widen your repertoire. Luckily however, it does seem like Isekai Ojisan recognizes that and is trying to fix it. On both counts!

Continue reading “Isekai Ojisan – 2 [“Guardian Heroes” Shoulda Been Number One!]” →

Summer 2022 Season Preview

by Lenlo, posted in Seasonal Previews

Lenlo: And so ends one of the most packed seasons we’ve had in a while. From the drama and artistry of Dance Dance Danseur to the wholesomeness of Deaimon, the grand finale of Kaguya-sama‘s third season to the rising star that is SpyXFamily. It’s going to be hard to top that moving forward, but let’s turn our eyes to the future and see what is has in store for us. Like every season you have the usual batch of sequels, some big some small. Overlord returns for its 4th season of anti-hero Isekai while Made in Abyss will once again toe the line between tragedy and the grotesque. What is surprising though is the sheer amount of originals. Engage Kiss, Lycrosi Recoil, Bucchigire and Ongakutai Witches to name a few. For anyone wanting something new, you’re spoiled for choice. I just hope you don’t want anything good. And of course the big surprise of the season for me is RWBY actually becoming a real anime now. You hear that Reddit?! You can’t stop me from talking about it on r/anime anymore! Who has the power now?! ahem Like I was saying, there’s a lot of decent looking stuff this season. So join us and read on as we take a look at the ones that stood out to us. And make sure to vote on the poll below for what you’re looking forward to!

This poll is no longer accepting votes

What will you be watching this summer?
VoteResults

Middling Expectations

Isekai Ojisan

Studio: Atelier Pontdarc
Director: Shigeki Kawai
Series composition: Kenta Ihara
Source: Manga

The Premise: An Isekai protagonist is transported back to Earth only to find 2 decades have passed, and now it is up to his nephew to help him fit back into the world.

Lenlo: The only reason I’m even remotely interested in this is because I think the concept is interesting. So many Isekai are just wish fulfillment for the young Otaku, pandering to the lowest common denominator. And while Ojisan still might be that, probably is to be frank, the idea of seeing him re-integrate with the real world after his Isekai adventure is one I’m very interested in. Very few Isekai actually tackle the implications of disappearing from the real world, with even fewer actually returning to said world. So while I expect this to be just another seasonal Isekai dumpster fire, I’m willing to at least give it a shot and see if it can’t do something more with this concept. On top of that it’s also Shigeki Kawai’s Directorial debut, so I’m always curious about a new talent getting their first shot at the big leagues. Who knows, maybe their desire to leave a mark will work out here!

Continue reading “Summer 2022 Season Preview” →

RWBY: Ice Queendom – 1/2/3 [Red, White, Black, Yellow/This is Beacon/Nightmare Comes]

by Lenlo, posted in Currently Watching:, RWBY: Ice Queendom

Welcome everyone, to the first airing show of the Summer 2022 season, RWBY: Ice Queendom! The first 3 episodes pre-aired for some reason, so despite our opening seasonal coverage not coming out until this weekend I decided to go for it. Don’t worry, you don’t have to know anything about RWBY to read along. It’s most just going to be me explaining and reaming into it. So without further ado, lets jump in!

First up lets get this out of the way, Queendom looks wildly inconsistent. This isn’t a huge surprise, its Shaft post-exodus so it was always going to be rough. But it still hurts to actually see. Once or twice an episode we will get an absolutely bonkers Hiroto Nagata cut, and it will be glorious. I’m talking everything I ever wanted an anime RWBY to be. Outside that however… The stills look nice, huke’s art style is always great, but the moment things begin to move it falls apart. Everyone becomes stiff, like they can’t handle the character designs in motion. Meanwhile the bullheads and airships look like literal toys, sliding across the screen motionless. And the backgrounds? They are occasionally nice, but nothing to write home about. They do their job and nothing more, rarely pulling us deeper into this world. Basically what I’m saying is, Queendom looks… meh.

Continue reading “RWBY: Ice Queendom – 1/2/3 [Red, White, Black, Yellow/This is Beacon/Nightmare Comes]” →