Tag Archives: The Disappearance of Nagato Yuki-chan

The Disappearance of Nagato Yuki-chan – Episode 10

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Aw shit, stuff actually happened this week! Like, BIG stuff! Not “this retroactively justifies me watching an entire season of a low quality slice of life” big, but certainly “wow, this episode was really rewarding for its own sake” big. The execution just really, really stepped up for this episode’s Big Shift, and the result was one of the more effectively moody episodes I’ve seen in a long time. Great work, Nagato Yuki team.

Alright, that’s enough beating around the big spoiler this week. Here’s my full ANN post, and you can check out (spoiler-filled, of course) notes below.

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Spring 2015 – Week 9 in Review

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I should have something piercing and salient to say here, but really I’m just staring at all the stupid faces I chose for the episodes this week and giggling to myself. Goddamnit Takeo. Goddamnit Shinji. Hurray for silly anime faces.

Anyway, some anime came out this week. It wasn’t the best week, outside of Oregairu having one more Holy Shit Good episode, but most of the episodes were reasonable nonetheless. Let’s run ’em down!

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The Disappearance of Nagato Yuki-chan – Episode 9

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Oh hey, this episode wasn’t totally terrible! Was pretty happy to see that. Watching shows that are consistently bad is really just tiring for me at this point – even when SAO was bad, it was at least visually interesting and moved well, whereas Nagato Yuki-chan’s bad stuff is just absolutely interminable. But this episode had good scenes! A couple solid jokes, and a legitimately nice moment between Asakura and Haruhi. You get a pass this time, Nagato Yuki-chan.

Here’s my full episode post. Notes below!

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The Disappearance of Nagato Yuki-chan – Episode 8

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The Disappointment of Haruhi Knockoff-chan continues apace this week, with a hot springs episode that has to be the most by-the-numbers hot spring episode I’ve seen in years. It takes the Haruhi pedigree to trick me into watching a show that’d even consider tossing off an episode like this – episodes that just come fresh out of the factory fully constructed, no sharp edges or rough touches of personality left to distinguish them in their endless, undying ranks. C’mon, Nagato Yuki. I’m dying here.

My full episode review is here. Notes below!

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Spring 2015 – Week 7 in Review

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There were some good episodes this week, with JoJo and Oregairu tossing out particular standouts, but overall, I have to say this one was defined by its worst episodes. Nagato Yuki had a second straight episode that was just completely without merit, and Unlimited Blade Works hit what I really, deeply hope has to be rock bottom. Last week I expressed hope that Caster’s absence would help the show regain a sense of momentum – well, apparently Archer had other plans. He’s always been one of the weakest parts of this show, and this episode was his grand performance, where twenty minutes of dialogue conveyed ten lines of information we already knew. I’m too far in to stop now, but UBW is not making the ride easy.

But that’s enough doom and gloom for now. Let’s talk JOJO.

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Spring 2015 – First Half in Review

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Time again at last. Episodes have passed, cartoons have risen and fallen, and the moment has arrived for us to once again slot stories into a reductive hierarchy that cheapens the very idea of media consumption. Does ranking shows inherently contribute to a system that commodifies art and undercuts the complexity of emotional engagement? Are we essentially belittling ourselves by implying that our relationship with the stories we choose to consume can be summed up through a simple “eh, at least it’s better than this other one?” Will any of the people whose attitudes I’m critiquing in this opening paragraph possibly not skip to the numbers themselves, rendering this sarcastic thought experiment totally pointless?

Maybe so. But goddamnit, we’re gonna do it anyway.

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The Disappearance of Nagato Yuki-chan – Episode 6

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Well, this episode sure sucked. It was basically a steady parade of the laziest jokes available to anime, punctuated by occasional silly faces. But hey, at least that makes one show I’m watching easy to write about…

My extremely dry review is available here. Notes below!

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Spring 2015 – Week 5 in Review

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Things have remained consistent this week – so consistent that I’m almost regretting dropping the wildcards. Not that I don’t have enough to watch, of course – a new review came out this week, and there should be more coming soon, so I’ve certainly been watching plenty of cartoons. But what is there to say about this season? The top three (Oregairu, BBB, Sound! Euphonium) remain incredibly stable, Ore Monogatari!! is as heartwarming as ever, and JoJo, UBW, and Yuki are all doing things you’d probably expect from them. I don’t want any of the great shows to fail, so I guess it’s up to the bottom half to surprise me – time to shape up, action shows and Yuki! Give me at least an opening paragraph’s worth of human interest story, so I don’t need to return to the “I’ve got nothing to talk about” well for two weeks straight.

Alright, filled my word quota. LET’S RUN ‘EM DOWN.

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