Fall 2015 – Week 10 in Review

We’re approaching the end of the season, which at this point means we’re also approaching the end of the year. On a seasonal level, this means shows have really stopped pulling out too many surprises – Perfect Insider and One Punch Man demonstrated some welcome strengths over the last few weeks, but even they seem to be settling into a rhythm for the finales. And on an annual level, this means holy crap it’s time to do all that end-of-the-year nonsense! I’ve more or less settled on my top ten shows of the year, and am working my butt off to manage that list, weekly reviews, actual full show reviews, and regular current project articles for all you lovely people. It’s been an extremely busy week on basically all those fronts; I spent a great deal of last week barreling through way too many episodes of Black Lagoon, and this past weekend I also managed to sneak in the excellent When Marnie Was There. All those and many more attractions in this here week in review! Let’s RUN IT ALL DOWN!

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Black Lagoon – Review

Yep, I reviewed Black Lagoon. The whole damn thing, too – the first season, the Second Barrage, and even Roberta’s Blood Trail. No half measures here, I watched twenty-nine goddamn episodes of gunslinging and explosions. And how was it?

Eh, it was pretty okay. My initial feelings on the show weren’t substantially shifted by finishing it – the show’s attempts at seriousness were still both overwrought and deeply undercut by its absurd villains, and ultraviolence for its own sake remains Not My Thing. But the storytelling actually improved a fair bit in the show’s final third, which was a nice reward for my time. It certainly doesn’t mean I’d recommend the show, but I always appreciate how having to watch something I wouldn’t normally watch for review ends up establishing these interesting, unexpected media relationships.

Anyway. You can check out my megasized review over at ANN, or my many, many notes below!

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