Mario: Apologize for posting this Weekly Summary a day late, as I was away last long weekend. Seasonal anime has passed its first 3 weeks now, which means they more or less show their true colors as this point and we writers more or less settle down on shows we will be watching through the rest of the season. 22/7 and OshiBudo have their first appearances in this column, but it remains to be seen whether they can hold our interest. Without further ado, read further to see what we say about them this week:
Haikyuu: To The Top! – Ep 3
Lenlo: Content wise, I think this was a good week for Haikyuu. It was nice to see Hinata figuring out what it is he lacks. Figuring out the smart way to play the game vs his previously purely instinctual methods, then slowly merging the two. He has yet to actually play, yet he is learning just by observing, which is something Hinata hasn’t really done till now. Being more focused on DOING. That said, it still feels like it lacks something visually. That being the sort of crisp visual style of previous seasons. It just sort of feels… flat? Like the spikes lack impact, the color doesn’t pop in places it feels like it should, and sometimes the faces feel off, etc. It’s still good, but coming off of previous Haikyuu seasons it feels a tad underwhelming. Granted, I watched all of those 2 weeks before the season started. So it’s a bit fresher for me than most others.
Oshi ga Budokan Ittekuretara Shinu – 2-3
Wooper: OshiBudo is approaching its central premise with less irony that the first episode led me to expect. Comedy is still a part of the show’s M.O., but the relationship between Eripiyo and Maina is disappointingly straightforward in its use of misunderstandings and unrequited longing. The aftermath of the tanzaku plot, for example, relied just as much on Maina’s love for her number one fan as it did on Eripiyo’s intense approach to idol fandom. That love has been teased as romantic a few times now, and while I think that development could take the show in an interesting direction, it’s probably just bait. There was a more credible bit of yuri between two Cham Jam members in episode 2, so who knows where the show is willing to go? Hopefully it keeps creating humorous setups, no matter what tone it settles on. Eripiyo’s shampoo-related tanzaku flying into view as her “fan letters” were scattered to the wind comes to mind as the comedic bar the show ought to be shooting for. If it continues to skew in a less playful, more sincere direction, though, I don’t know that I’ll make it through the whole cour.
ID:Invaded – 5
Wooper: This episode struck me as pretty dumb. I don’t know why it took me this long to have a problem with multiple characters having holes drilled in their heads, but I was rolling my eyes this time around. Why are the holes merely decorative in some instances, but they disrupt brain function in others? Hondomachi’s theory about the Kazuta, for example, rests on his murderous and romantic impulses being crossed as a result of his head wound. That’s a neat concept, but she’s got the same skull tunnel that he does – why would it affect one person’s mental wiring and not another’s? Her questioning of the Gravedigger didn’t make a lot of sense to me, either. She rephrases the same set of questions about boyfriends and relationships multiple times, and uses the suspect’s noncommittal responses to somehow discern her identity. The direction of this scene wasn’t bad – I could feel the show visually leading me to that conclusion via stuff like dutch angles, close-ups, etc. But the dialogue felt like a 90s sitcom writer’s idea of how women talk to each other: circuitous, cutesy, and all about dudes. Since the whole episode was about the Gravedigger case, and so little of it followed Sakaido through Kazuta’s unconscious world, I found little to enjoy this week.
Jibaku Shounen Hanako-kun – 03
Mario: There’s a parallel in plot between this week’s Jibaku and Magia Record, as both stories are about urban tales regarding people who are spirited away, even their own existence get swiped out, with basically the same ghostly settings dominated by hundreds of red torii gates. This week is Jibaku’s strongest week so far, credits to its strong sense of supernatural vibe and impressive visual art. The show’s humor is still pretty weak for me, and while the titular Hanako-kun’s backstory is intriguing, for now I can’t say I find him or Nene very compelling. This Wonder #2 spirit could pose as a tragic and interesting character, so I’ll keep my hope up for the next episode.
22/7 – 02-03
Mario: 22/7 remains rather strange for a typical idol show, let alone this is a multimedia project based on a real idol group. The first episode saw the main girl having cynical reception about the idol industry, for example. And so far the next two episodes settle down its concept for a bit, but it remains pretty unusual. Yep, they won’t shut up about “The Wall order is absolute” BS but I give points for the girls having the same reactions as mine. Another factor that makes this show so different from others show with the same genre is it uneven approach in its production: the voice cast is awkward, the CG performance is there but the routine is undercut by the main girl’s monologues. 22/7 is by no means a hit, but it still keeps me curious to check out some more of it, or should I say – THE WALL ORDERED ME TO FOLLOW THIS.
Somali to Mori no Kamisama – 03
Mario: If there is one thing Somali nails it so far, it’s the art backgrounds that are gorgeous and breathe the life of their own. I still have problems with the sunlight beams but apart from that they have been very consistent. This week marks the first time Somali the girl makes friends her age, and apart from that… it’s the same as usual I suppose? I do think Golem slips up when he says he’s looking for humans, but so far the story just glosses over it. This week we also have some nice moments of Somali confesses that she’s afraid Golem would leave her for good once the journey’s over (which is the case). It’s touching for sure but it also plays on the same emotional notes that we have known before. In order to make their chemistry more interesting, I believe the show needs to shake them harder, throw them outside of their comfort zones, for example.
Agree about Haikyuu. I like the refreshing perspective that actually examines the sport outside shounen-esque narrow point of view that capitalizes on the sport more than uplifts it – even though we are still in dumbified territory (but that is something that comes with the medium, particularly in recent years), but the lack of something integral is obvious. It is monotone, simple and close-minded. How many times is Ushikawa and the rest gonna give Hinata ‘the look’? It has already been silly in like S2, but this is too much.
I also speed-rewatched S2/3/OVAs before this, so I’m also fresh.
For me, I’ve seen S2 first and I was pleasantly surprised. S1 was good too. S3 was still intense as S2, but unbelievably stupid (Shiratorizawa should have won) and that whole team is simply bunch of uninteresting extra-eccentric single-trait characters that keep doing the same thing over and over again. Ping Pong the animation handled the monster theme with grace, haikyuu did not – just bunch of vapid metaphors voiced needlessly by the senseis. The 2 ep OVA was even worse imo – production-wise and story-wise, with jarring pacing, questionable focus and lackluster character. And someone decided to mess with the character style a bit. I also do not think HeyHeyHeeyyyyyy qualifies as a personality so it gets stupid for me fast. I was skeptical for S4, so far its about as I would expect – okey,
I’m not expecting S4 to get anywhere near S2 – Aoba Jousai is unconditionally the best team – it has complex characters, complex inter-member dynamics and good relation with Karasuno. Oikawa is best character, Namikawa Daisuke best voice actor (not counting Nakamura Yuuichi (Kuroo)) along with Takeuchi Shunsuke (Mad Dog) – this made for about the best match I can imagine haikyuu being able to produce. High-octane, high-impact, high-stakes, yet believable. After this everything seems like an asspull.
Tbh, after the 3 episodes of S4, I’m not terribly excited for more content. Feels like entire ep’s worth could be cut without losing anything here. The focus is too narrow, dunno. S1-2 were balanced, this devolved into training-battle tick-tock’s, evolving during the match (I srsly hate that crap) and characters/settings disappearing… It’s not high school life anymore, but Hinata hunting special attacks and ***measuring contest.